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New York police said a man has been taken into custody after a speedboat capsized near the Statue of Liberty over the weekend, leaving a woman and a baby dead.
The vessel capsized late Saturday night near Liberty Island, prompting a large search and rescue operation. Twelve people were initially pulled from the water and are reported to be in stable condition. New York police divers later recovered a 27-year-old woman and a five-month-old girl, who were rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
Officials have not publicly named the victims, but co-workers identified them as Sara Sanchez and her baby daughter, Antonella Garcia. Law enforcement sources who spoke to CBS News, the BBC's US partner, made the same identification.
An Italian restaurant in Manhattan, Il Punto, said Sanchez was the wife of one of its employees, Andres Garcia, who was also on the boat when it overturned, and that Antonella was the couple's child.
"What was meant to be a joyful family outing ended in unimaginable tragedy," the restaurant wrote on Instagram. The business also launched an online fundraiser for Garcia, saying he "must now find the strength to move forward" for the couple's six-year-old son, Salvador, "who has also suffered a heartbreaking loss."
At 10:25 p.m. local time Saturday (2:25 a.m. GMT Sunday), police received a 911 call reporting an overturned boat in the waters near Liberty Island, which houses the statue.
A nearby tour operator, Sea the City, spotted the capsized vessel and helped pull 11 people from the water, according to the company's founder, Adam Schwartz. The rescue effort also involved two U.S. Coast Guard boats, four fire department boats, two police boats and a police helicopter.
"We are extremely grateful for the heroic, swift actions of our partner agencies and the Good Samaritan vessel who assisted in rescuing survivors from the water," said Capt. Doreen McCarthy of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The boat's operator, 46-year-old Manhattan resident Manuel Hernandez, was arrested on 13 counts of reckless endangerment. "The defendant was arrested over the weekend and is now in federal custody. Further information will be provided shortly," federal prosecutors told AFP Monday.
The investigation is ongoing. Coast Guard investigators are also determining whether the boat was illegally chartered, meaning it may have operated as a passenger-for-hire vessel without the required credentials, safety equipment and certificate of inspection.
The names of the other passengers and the specific cause of the incident have not been released.
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