1 dead in mass casualty event after boat crashes into Clearwater Ferry in Florida

An aquatic hitand-run crash in Clearwater, Florida, leaves one person dead and several others injured after a boat slammed right into a public water taxi carrying dozens of passengers in Florida and then sped off. Investigators say 45 people were on board the Clearwater ferry when it hit just before 9 last night. Two people had to be airlifted to trauma centers while at least five others were hospitalized for various injuries. Sounds like, yeah, possibly two with severe broken bones and then the three or four on the ferry boat kind of requires some additional resources. That ferry was reportedly going back and forth to a day's long festival that had just wrapped up in the Clearwater Beach area. Passengers say the boat that hit the ferry was going too fast. We we were just enjoying the ride and uh all of a sudden we hear the first mate yelling, "Uh, hey, hey, hey." And then we look back behind us and uh this big yach just came through the boat. We can understand how fast they were going. Like how that is even logically possible that they hit and were able to like just get off like that. Officials say the driver who fled the scene was found about 3 hours later. There's no word yet on the boat that was used whether or not impairment is suspected or if speed was a factor. Good Morning America will of course have new reporting details on this breaking story overnight. That's going to be coming up right after Action News at