OCHOPEE, Fla. — Two airboats collided with each other Friday afternoon in southwest Florida, injuring more than a dozen people, officials said.
The airboats were carrying a total of 33 people when they crashed in Ochopee, about 75 miles west of Miami, news outlets reported. Sixteen people were transported to hospitals.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is investigating the crash.
The crash took place at Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours around 3 p.m., according to a Facebook post by the Greater Naples Fire Rescue District. The business offers airboat tours through private Everglades grasslands, among other things, according to its website.
Wooten’s Everglades Airboat Tours didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
It was not immediately clear how the crash had occurred or the nature of the passengers’ injuries.
As CBS Miami reports, this is the third airboat crash in the Everglades this year. The first happened in January when an airboat crash in Miami-Dade left at least a dozen people with minor injuries. Then in March, an airboat operator was arrested after flipping a boat carrying 10 people.
