The Transportation Safety Board (TSB) deployed a team of investigators on Friday following a collision involving the river shuttle Millennium Falcon Navark company and a pleasure boat that was traveling at very high speed on Thursday near Longueuil. The accident left eight minor injuries, including a child.
What there is to know
A river shuttle linking Boucherville to the Old Port of Montreal was hit at high speed Thursday by a pleasure boat.
Paramedics had to perform a triage operation on board when the ship was able to dock. Eight people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.
The driver of the pleasure craft at fault may have committed a hit and run.
The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m., near Charron Island, a place very popular with boaters.
“It’s a type boat cigarette boat which hit our shuttle, according to what I understood from the testimony of our captain and the sailor,” says Isabelle Saulnier, spokesperson for Navark, the company that provides the river link between the Old Port of Montreal and Boucherville . The two employees were encountered by the police and Transport Canada. “What emerges is that the pleasure craft had an impressive speed,” adds Mme Saulnier.
GPS data recorded in real time by the company shows, according to Mme Saulnier, that the shuttle was moving along its usual route, at its usual speed, except at the very end, when it swerved to try to avoid the other boat.
It happened quickly, but our captain testified that he wasn’t even sure he saw anyone at the controls of the pleasure craft.
Isabelle Saulnier, spokesperson for Navark
There is no speed limit in this area, as is the case for most places on the river. “It’s a difficult area, where you find all kinds of boats, with people who don’t necessarily know the rules of navigation and who are sometimes not in a condition to drive a boat,” notes Mme Saulnier.
Nearly forty passengers were on board the river shuttle, which was shaken by the impact, according to Mme Saulnier. The passengers who were injured were possibly on the ship’s front deck and were thrown to the ground. “It was a pretty hard blow,” said Mr.me Saulnier: There were also one or two people who felt unwell inside.”
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Nearly forty passengers were on board the river shuttle.
Damaged above its waterline, on the port side, the commercial shuttle was able to moor at the dock of the Longueuil marina, where ambulance crews from the Coopérative des technicians ambulanciers de la Montérégie (CETAM) carried out a on-board triage process.
Seven women aged between 30 and 50 and a 6-year-old child were taken to hospital in four ambulances for injuries considered minor. “We do not fear for their lives,” said CETAM spokesperson Renaud Pilon. “We feared concussions,” said Mme Saulnier.
Police and firefighters assisted paramedics in evacuating passengers from the boat. “This is not the kind of operation we do every day,” Pilon said.
Possible hit-and-run
The pilot of the boat which hit the shuttle would have continued on his way without stopping, indicates Mr. Pilon. According to Mme Saulnier, another Navark boat that was in the area, would have followed the boat, which was heading east and would have possibly had radio communication with its captain.
The Sûreté du Québec said it had located the pleasure boat and met a person linked to the accident, but was not able to provide more details on Friday. “Re-enactors were dispatched to the site,” said spokesperson Adam Marineau.
The Transportation Safety Board, the federal agency responsible for investigating air, rail and marine accidents, will conduct interviews with witnesses in the coming days. Its investigators were expected to arrive on site Friday afternoon, spokesman Hugo Fontaine said.
The role of the TSB is to determine the causes of an accident and to make recommendations, and not to assign civil or criminal responsibilities to the actors involved.
THE Millennium Falcon, with a capacity of 47 passengers, cannot be repaired until the investigation has been completed. Navark, which owns around twenty boats, however assures that the accident has no impact on the shuttle service between the Old Port and Boucherville. The company emphasizes that it has contacted an organization to offer psychological help to the passengers concerned. “This is the first time we have experienced something like this in almost 30 years of navigation. We have very strong thoughts for our passengers,” insists Ms. Saulnier.