MARBLEHEAD — Five people were injured and sent to local hospitals after a late night boating accident Thursday near Gray’s Rock.
Just after 11 p.m., the Marblehead Fire Department arrived at State Street Landing to find the Marblehead, Salem and Beverly Harbormasters already on the scene, according to a news release.
“There was a grounding on Gray’s Rock,” Salem Harbormaster Bill McHugh told The Salem News. “Mutually a call was put out by Marblehead Police Department. We responded in a Salem boat and helped extricate people from the ledge. We worked in conjunction with Beverly Harbormaster, Marblehead Fire Department and Marblehead Harbormaster.”
Two people had been rescued by the harbormasters and transported to State Street Landing, where they were transferred to awaiting Beauport Ambulance crews for evaluation and transport.
Marblehead Fire Department personnel then boarded a Marblehead harbormaster vessel and responded to the accident scene. Crews located a vessel that had come completely out of the water and was resting atop Gray’s Rock.
Marblehead firefighters and McHugh entered the water to find additional injured victims outside the vessel on Gray’s Rock. Firefighters, assisted by McHugh, safely secured the patient and transferred them to a Marblehead harbormaster boat. Emergency medical care was initiated while en route back to State Street Landing, where the patient was transferred to Beauport Ambulance.
“We respond to all kinds of emergencies throughout the year, at the end of the day we just do our job,” McHugh said.
McHugh also transported two additional occupants with minor injuries to State Street Landing after confirming that all people involved in the incident had been accounted for.
“The injuries range from minor to significant,” he said, and confirmed that no children were involved.
Marblehead police officers assisted Beauport Ambulance personnel with moving the patients from the dock to awaiting ambulances.
Officials are not commenting at this time on how the accident occurred, saying it’s under investigation.
“I’m not going to speculate (on what happened) but I know that the vessel grounded for whatever reason and at this point it’s still under investigation,” said McHugh.
After releasing a statement about the rescue, the Marblehead Fire Department also declined further comment Friday morning.
The Fire Department said in the release it’s thankful for the help and support from all of the agencies “whose coordinated response ensured a rapid and effective rescue operation.” Those agencies include the Marblehead Harbormaster, Salem Harbormaster’s Office, Beverly Harbormaster, U.S. Coast Guard, Marblehead Police Department, Beauport Ambulance Service, Inc., and the Marblehead fire and police 911 dispatchers.