Witnesses say small boat crashed into riverboat

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A boating accident took place on the St. Johns River in downtown late Saturday night.

According to witnesses who were on the Annabelle Lee river boat, a small leisure boat came up from behind the river boat, hit a dock, and then hit the river boat.

Brooke Kantack was on the river boat and said the crash took place on the river near Metro Park.

"Two people fell out and three people were left on, but one got out and tried to swim to the fellow victims," Kantack recalled.

Kantack said at least one woman from the smaller boat was plucked from the water and pulled onto the river boat. Kantack said she heard the woman say her leg was in pain.

Kantack said she believed the smaller craft was speeding because it passed the river boat so quickly.

Police were on the scene investigating.

Witnesses said no one on the river boat was hurt.

A Packed Boat, a Celebration, a Deadly Turn

The sky over Long Island Sound, ignited moments earlier by an extravagant Fourth of July fireworks display, was suddenly bright again: a signal flare illuminated a marine disaster unfolding among the boats leaving the show.

Former astronaut Alan "Dex" Poindexter, 50, a space shuttle commander who flew twice into space, died Sunday after being injured in a water sports accident in Florida.
"The NASA family was sad to learn of the passing of our former friend, and colleague Alan Poindexter who was killed today during a jet ski accident in Florida," NASA wrote on Facebook late Sunday. "Our thought and hearts are with his family."
According to local media reports citing the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, Poindexter was jet skiing with his two sons near Little Sabine Bay off of Pensacola Beach, Fla., when the accident occurred.
"Poindexter and his 21-year-old son were on one jet ski and his oldest son was on another jet ski. Poindexter was sitting still in the water when his [older] son's jet ski came barreling into him," the local ABC affiliate WEAR reported, citing the FWC, which investigates boating accidents.
Poindexter was rushed to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, where he later died from his injuries.