Ashbridges beachgoers watch boat crash, killing one
It was a warm, sunny, late-summer day at the beach on Thursday. Hundreds were sunbathing and swimming and watching the boats sail or motor across Ashbridges Bay.
Many were watching as one small boat loaded with passengers sped across the water, ending up crashing into the rocks off Woodbine Park lining the west end of the bay.
Six people were injured, and one 47-year-old man died in the collision, police said.
Police had responded to a call about a boat crash about 12:35 p.m. on Sept. 3.
A 46-year-old man had reportedly lost control of the boat he was operating with six people aboard.
Emergency responders rushed a 47–year-old man to a trauma centre with vital signs absent and he was declared dead at hospital.
The boat operator and remaining passengers received non-life threatening injuries, police said. Three were reportedly treated by paramedics at the scene while the rest were sent to hospital.
Boat crash close to shore
The boat was described as a 20-foot bowrider vessel, a boat in which passengers sit at the front.
It hit rocks about 90 metres from the beach’s shoreline, police said.
Some people watching from the beach told media the boat had seemed to be speeding recklessly toward the rocks, bouncing on the waves, and flipped over close to shore.
Other speedboat operators and lifeguards rushed out to help immediately after the crash, they said.
With the beach so busy, investigators are looking for anyone who saw the crash or had video footage of it.
Police are not saying yet whether speeding or alcohol consumption are suspected of being a cause of the crash.
