8 passengers saved, including 2 children, after boat slams into bridge

LITTLE TORCH KEY, Fla. (WPLG) – A boat slammed into a bridge in the Florida Keys early Monday morning before starting to sink.

Body camera video from the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office caught the dramatic race to rescue eight people who were on the boat.

The eight people were made up of six adults and two children.

Fire rescue crews lowered a ladder from the bridge before tending to the victims, grabbing them one by one as the boat took on water.

In one clip, what appears to be blood on the boat can be seen, and a child can be heard crying from a leg injury.

Another passenger had to be delicately rescued after they also suffered a leg injury. They were found lying on the side of the boat as it was sinking.

Three people were airlifted, two to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center and one to Jackson South Medical Center.

Four others were taken to Lower Keys Medical Center in Key West.

Officials said the 35-foot center console boat was traveling at a high rate of speed before it hit the bridge.

The boat was left in a mangled mess at an impound yard in Ramrod Key.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it’s investigating whether speed or alcohol were factors in the crash.

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