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Fatal Boating Accident Grief And Tributes Pour In

By Eddie Farah

It was a senseless loss of life on Easter Sunday. And the funerals are now underway.

Three of the five killed Sunday on a boat in the Intracoastal area of Palm Valley south of Jacksonville are being laid to rest. The first funeral was held Thursday for 20-year-old Liz Rosenfeld a student at the University of North Florida. Her friends have entered about 1,500 tributes on a Facebook page set up in her honor.

Two women who were friends will be buried Friday. They were invaluable members of the YMCA family of Clay County where they both worked.

Altogether five people were killed and nine injured when the 22- foot boat in which they were riding hit a tugboat in the Intracoastal Waterway. The tug was tied up to a barge at a worksite building a boat lift.

Shortly after 9 p.m. Shand's trauma center took in the mass casualties that included blunt trauma, head injuries, fractures and internal injuries.

Alcohol was present at the boat crash site. It is not illegal to have an open container of alcohol on the boat as it would be in a car. It is illegal if the boat's operator is impaired. No word on who was driving the boat, how fast it was traveling, or to what extent, if at all, he was impaired.

Charges are not out of the possibility here. For one thing the 22-foot Crownline was over capacity by two people. For another, it was traveling in a no-wake zone. Witnesses at The Bridge restaurant say they saw it going nearly full throttle. Then they heard the emergency vehicles.

The boat belongs to 37-year-old Melvin Bethel of Pone Vedra Beach, who is listed in fair condition at the Mayo Clinic.

The Florida Wildlife Commission is conducting the investigation as is the National Transportation Safety board because of the number of deaths and injuries.

There is a lot to study here - the throttle and steering mechanisms, what the engine tells them, and what damage to both vessels reveals. Ultimately the federal agency will share what we all can learn to prevent injury from boating accidents.

Our hearts go out to all of the families impacted by this tragedy. #

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Eddie Farah

Full post as published by Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer on April 16, 2009 (boomark / email).