GALVESTON, Texas — The Fourth of July turned out to be pretty scary for five people who were thrown into the water after a boat collision near Galveston Tuesday night.
They were all injured and none of them had life jackets.
The captain of a towing vessel alerted the Coast Guard's Houston-Galveston command center that the 18-foot pleasure craft had collided with a barge and capsized. It happened around 9:40 p.m. east of the Galveston Causeway.
A rescue boat and MH-65 Dolphin helicopter were sent to the scene.
Fortunately, the crew of another towing vessel had pulled all five boaters from the water.
Two people, one with a head injury and another with a broken leg, were hoisted into a Coast Guard helicopter and taken to the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.
The Coast Guard said the other three people had minor injuries. A boat took them to the command center and they were then taken to UTMB to be checked out.
At last check, all five people were reported to be stable.
“We commend the crew of the Chip Stiebing for launching into action and helping people in need,” Cmdr. Michael Cortese, search and rescue mission coordinator, said. “Their quick response expedited the overall rescue and helped us connect these boaters with higher medical care.”
The cause of the boat collision is under investigation.
It was a busy night for the Coast Guard. Another crew patrolling the waters near Freeport rescued a dog they spotted floating. They learned he had jumped into the Gulf after getting spooked by fireworks.
