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CNN Live At Daybreak
Commuter Tragedy
Aired October 16, 2003 - 06:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly ferryboat accident and a captain so distraught he slits his wrists and shoots himself in the chest with a pellet gun. It's a strange story New York authorities are still trying to make sense of.
Let's head live to New York Harbor and CNN's Michael Okwu.
Michael -- can you hear me? Michael?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, Carol. Good morning.
This is the site of what was a terrible, terrible accident yesterday. It looks all calm right now. I just want to show you over my shoulder. That's a ferry sitting in a dock. We understand that that ferry may at some point today be leaving. But what you do not see is a ferry just below, which is where investigators have been working tirelessly throughout the course of the evening.
A team of NTSB officials arrived here this morning. They'll be having a meeting at about 8:00 Eastern Standard Time. And then, they will begin rolling up their sleeves and trying to figure out exactly what happened.
What we know at this point: A little after 3:20 yesterday afternoon, a Staten Island ferry, one of the fabled ferries here in New York on its way from Manhattan to Staten Island, crashed up against the pier. There was a whole set of wooden pylons on the pier that speared into the boat, as well as concrete and steel. Many of the passengers on board tried to seek refuge by running on the ferry, scrambling, looking for cover. Many of them plunged into the sea.
This is what some of them had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the commuters were crowded at the front of the boat as we pulled in toward the pier. And then, we heard an enormous crashing sound, and, of course, there was a jolt in the boat. And I noticed that as we approached the pier, we seemed to be going at a pretty good clip. And then, people started to turn and run, and someone shouted "run."
So, everybody ran toward the back of the boat and started pulling life preservers, life vests, and started putting them on. And in a few moments, it was clear that the boat was not listing in any way, but there were no announcements. They made no effort to... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No instructions were given.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... no instructions at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you feel any impact?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we could feel the impact, yes. And as soon as we pulled away, it was very obvious how crushed in the pier was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Ten people were killed, about 32 people injured, and most of those, according to officials at area hospitals, are suffering from hypothermia, as well as from trauma. Some of those people are still in critical condition. There were some 1,500 people aboard that ferry, far short of the actual capacity of 6,000 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Michael, the most bizarre twist to this is this assistant captain who tried to commit suicide. Do we know anymore about him?
OKWU: There are some sketchy details and conflicting reports, Carol, about how exactly he tried to do this. But apparently, after the ferry docked here and investigators started getting on board, at least at that point search and rescue people, the captain ran home and tried to kill himself, according, again, to Coast Guard officials.
They say that he tried to slash his wrists and then shoot himself with a pellet gun. He is now being treated at an area hospital. There have been some reports as to what his condition might have been, that perhaps he is on some sort of medication and had failed to take that medication. But at this point, those particular details are still sketchy. We're still trying to confirm them -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, if he was on medication, you really wouldn't want him piloting a boat. I mean, how many years has he been the pilot of that ferry?
OKWU: I couldnt tell you exactly how many years he's been the captain, Carol. But we do know that he's been referred to as a veteran captain. So, he's clearly been doing this for quite some time, and there is no indication that whatever medication he was taking would prevent him from operating this ship. But clearly, if, in fact, those reports are true -- and I stress if in fact those reports are true -- then, clearly it was something that he needed to be on top of, and perhaps he just wasn't yesterday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: A sad story. Michael Okwu reporting live from New York Harbor this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Aired October 16, 2003 - 06:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A deadly ferryboat accident and a captain so distraught he slits his wrists and shoots himself in the chest with a pellet gun. It's a strange story New York authorities are still trying to make sense of.
Let's head live to New York Harbor and CNN's Michael Okwu.
Michael -- can you hear me? Michael?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol. Yes, Carol. Good morning.
This is the site of what was a terrible, terrible accident yesterday. It looks all calm right now. I just want to show you over my shoulder. That's a ferry sitting in a dock. We understand that that ferry may at some point today be leaving. But what you do not see is a ferry just below, which is where investigators have been working tirelessly throughout the course of the evening.
A team of NTSB officials arrived here this morning. They'll be having a meeting at about 8:00 Eastern Standard Time. And then, they will begin rolling up their sleeves and trying to figure out exactly what happened.
What we know at this point: A little after 3:20 yesterday afternoon, a Staten Island ferry, one of the fabled ferries here in New York on its way from Manhattan to Staten Island, crashed up against the pier. There was a whole set of wooden pylons on the pier that speared into the boat, as well as concrete and steel. Many of the passengers on board tried to seek refuge by running on the ferry, scrambling, looking for cover. Many of them plunged into the sea.
This is what some of them had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All of the commuters were crowded at the front of the boat as we pulled in toward the pier. And then, we heard an enormous crashing sound, and, of course, there was a jolt in the boat. And I noticed that as we approached the pier, we seemed to be going at a pretty good clip. And then, people started to turn and run, and someone shouted "run."
So, everybody ran toward the back of the boat and started pulling life preservers, life vests, and started putting them on. And in a few moments, it was clear that the boat was not listing in any way, but there were no announcements. They made no effort to... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No instructions were given.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... no instructions at all.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you feel any impact?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we could feel the impact, yes. And as soon as we pulled away, it was very obvious how crushed in the pier was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Ten people were killed, about 32 people injured, and most of those, according to officials at area hospitals, are suffering from hypothermia, as well as from trauma. Some of those people are still in critical condition. There were some 1,500 people aboard that ferry, far short of the actual capacity of 6,000 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Michael, the most bizarre twist to this is this assistant captain who tried to commit suicide. Do we know anymore about him?
OKWU: There are some sketchy details and conflicting reports, Carol, about how exactly he tried to do this. But apparently, after the ferry docked here and investigators started getting on board, at least at that point search and rescue people, the captain ran home and tried to kill himself, according, again, to Coast Guard officials.
They say that he tried to slash his wrists and then shoot himself with a pellet gun. He is now being treated at an area hospital. There have been some reports as to what his condition might have been, that perhaps he is on some sort of medication and had failed to take that medication. But at this point, those particular details are still sketchy. We're still trying to confirm them -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, if he was on medication, you really wouldn't want him piloting a boat. I mean, how many years has he been the pilot of that ferry?
OKWU: I couldnt tell you exactly how many years he's been the captain, Carol. But we do know that he's been referred to as a veteran captain. So, he's clearly been doing this for quite some time, and there is no indication that whatever medication he was taking would prevent him from operating this ship. But clearly, if, in fact, those reports are true -- and I stress if in fact those reports are true -- then, clearly it was something that he needed to be on top of, and perhaps he just wasn't yesterday -- Carol.
COSTELLO: A sad story. Michael Okwu reporting live from New York Harbor this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
