Man on personal watercraft dies after crashing into boat

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Firefighters said a 27-year-old man riding along side his friend on another personal watercraft died after smashing into a boat.

The fatal accident happened at about 10 p.m. Sunday off of Biscayne Bay near the Venetian Causeway. "We understand that the victim was riding his personal watercraft, when he collided with the boat, striking the front of it and at that time he was thrown into the water, " said said Miami Fire-Rescue Lieuntant Ignatius Carroll.

Rescue workers tried to save the man as he was pulled from the water. "I was headed back to base, his friend was waving me down saying, 'Help me, help me, my friend is dying,' and I went over to rescue both of them and see what was going on," said Sea Tow Captain Fernando Sordo.

Several people at Watson Island Marina performed CPR to try and save the victim. "It was a bad scene. They basically came in with a body and I was one of the first responders who did CPR, first aid," said Ryan Wallach.

Florida Fish and Wildlife officials arrived on scene moments later and began conducting their investigation. "We have witness statements that claim that the two personal watercrafts were going at a very high rate of speed," said Jorge Pino, "one that zoomed by the vessel, moments later, the other one struck the vessel."

The victim, a father of two, died on the scene. Police are not indentifying him as of yet.

The victim's friend my face charges in the accident. "We know that the personal watercrafts were doing two things they were obviously not supposed to be doing," said Pino. "The first thing is operating the personal watercraft at night, which is completely against the law. Secondly, they were going at a high rate of speed in a minimum wake area."

The accident remains under investigation.

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