Four young adults from the Middle Keys were airlifted to Miami after a boat they were in struck the Seven Mile Bridge in the early afternoon hours of May 17.
Seven passengers were aboard the 1976 Mako center console, operated by 17-year-old Harlie Daniels, when it collided with the bridge around 2 p.m., according to initial information released by FWC spokeswoman Arielle Callender. All of the victims were rescued from the water and transported to land by a good Samaritan, where they were later accounted for by investigators, FWC said.
On the day of the crash, FWC Capt. David Dipre told the Weekly that while some victims were transported to Miami-area hospitals, none of their injuries was believed to be life-threatening. A full report, including the cause of the crash, was not available as of May 20, Callender said, and the investigation is ongoing.
Frank Woll is the local owner of the Molasses Keys, off the south side of the Seven Mile Bridge. He was on his way from the preserve to the boat ramp at the bridge’s west end when officers on land approached and asked him to take them to the scene of the crash, he said.
“We turned out to be the first boat there, except for the people who rescued the injured,” he said. “It was kind of eerie when we first arrived – just the boat was there, nobody around, and debris everywhere.”
Conducting a preliminary search for victims in the water, Woll said the attention soon turned to picking up debris from the wrecked vessel.
“We found the GPS and things like that, important stuff that we thought could help the investigation,” he said. “It just seemed like an accident – maybe people going too fast.
“I’m so careful when I’m driving along that bridge – my eyes are always looking in between (the pilings) to see any boats, because they come out so fast. I’m just happy because there were no bodies or other injured people there.”
