Overview

• Two children aged 7 and 13 died after a barge struck their sailboat near Hibiscus Island, and one juvenile remains unresponsive at Jackson Memorial Hospital.
• Two other youth participants are in critical condition while the adult counselor from the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation camp has been released in stable condition after evaluation.
• The U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have set a safety exclusion zone around the collision site and launched a salvage operation on the submerged vessel.
• Investigators have interviewed the barge captain and conducted alcohol and chemical testing to establish causal factors in the crash.
• The tragedy has reignited calls for stricter navigation protocols to protect novice sailors in busy recreational and commercial waterways.