4 Injured After MBTA Ferry Runs Aground Near Long Island

The U.S. Coast Guard reported Friday morning that a MBTA ferry called the MV Lightning ran aground off Long Island in Boston Harbor, injuring four people.

MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the ferry was the 7:30 a.m. from Hull and was "cut off" by a fishing boat, requiring the ferry's captain to take action to avoid a collision. However, Coast Guard Lt. Hannah Gribbin said at a press conference later Friday morning the cause wasn't known yet.

"We don't know the boat was cut off. We're going to work to determine," she said. The Coast Guard will be working with other agencies to investigate the cause, she said.

Joe O'Hare, the superintendent of field operations for Boston Emergency Medical Services, said the four passengers were taken to local hospitals with "relatively minor" injuries. The Coast Guard reported at 10:10 a.m. that all passengers had been safely removed from the boat.

"Everything went textbook," O'Hare said. "We drill for this on a regular basis. And it all worked just as we planned to."

"We were 10 minutes into our commute and heard the sound of hitting something gradually, and then all of a sudden a huge jolt," said Julia Patterson, of Hull, who was on board the Lightning when it ran aground. "People went flying forward onto the ground."

Passenger Craig Snyder of Hull said a pair of women sitting on a bench on the top deck of the Lightning were thrown violently into an air conditioning unit, and hit their heads.

"One of the ladies that was up top was bleeding and they had to stabilize her to take her off," said Snyder who added the ferry's captain and another crew member tended to her. "Fortunately, there were a number of nurses on board that helped use their medical expertise to assist to stabilize the lady and they got her on a stretcher and got her off," Snyder added.

WBUR reporter Fred Thys, a regular ferry rider who was not on the Lightning, said his own trip Friday morning on the 7:45 a.m. non-stop from Hingham to Rowes Wharf was heavily affected by the weather.

"You really couldn't see more than maybe 100 yards at a time. Other times it was more like 100 feet," Thys said.

"We almost ran into a sports fishing boat ourselves. Our boat came to a stop and tooted its fog horn and a little while later we just saw this little sport fishing boat just sailing out right behind us," he added. "I guess it had been in our way."

The National Weather Service had issued a dense fog warning that expired at 8 a.m. Friday.

WBUR's Newscast unit also contributed to this report.