New York tugboat sinks in Hudson River: one dead, two missing.
The 90-foot tugboat named Specialist went down after authorities say it hit something around 5:20 a.m. Saturday.
Construction continues on the new Tappan Zee Bridge as seen from Nyack, N.Y., Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016.
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
New York
New York State Police say one person is dead after a tugboat sank on the Hudson River north of New York City early Saturday morning.
Trooper Dermont Summers of the New York State Police says searchers are looking for two more people who were aboard.
The 90-foot tugboat named Specialist went down after authorities say it hit something around 5:20 a.m. The crash happened where the new Tappan Zee Bridge is being built.
State police say it hit the base of a construction cane, while the U.S. Coast Guard says the boat struck a barge.
WABC-TV in New York reports two people on the tugboat have been pulled from the water. The station reports one person died on the way to the hospital and the other survived.
The Coast Guard confirms the boat was carrying workers on the West Nyack side of the bridge.
Westchester County Police spokesman Kieran O'Leary says the tugboat hit a barge that is part of the bridge construction project.
O'Leary says the tugboat was pushing a separate barge down the Hudson when it crashed. He says the water is about 35 to 40 feet deep where the crash occurred.
The victim's name has not been released.
The new $5 billion bridge under construction a few yards to the north of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge and will connect to the existing highway approaches of the New York State Thruway (I-87/I-287) on both river banks. Construction is scheduled to be completed by 2017. Bridge tolls could rise from $5 to $12 to $15 for cars, reports Reuters.
The George Washington Bridge, which crosses the Hudson River south of the Tappan Zee, has a cash toll of $12, which is expected to rise to $15 in 2015.