11 rescued after boat overturns near Port of Miami bridge

2 jet-skiers treated for minor injuries

MIAMI – Nine people aboard a 23-foot boat and two people riding the waves on a Jetski suddenly found themselves under the waves after their boats overturned.

"At first I was in shock that the Jetski turned completely over as I've done a couple times, but then when the smaller passenger vessel turned over I was in a bit of shock," said witness Sean Penny.

"The police department and the Coast Guard arrived on the scene where the boat sank and started to pull people out of the water," said Miami Fire Rescue Lt. Ignatius Carroll.

The watercrafts flipped in the inlet next to the AmericanAirlines Arena close to the Port of Miami bridge around 6 p.m. Saturday.

"They said that wave came through and started putting water on the boat. When they tried to move around to get out of the way and balance the boat out, the boat sank," said Carroll.

Calls began coming in from dozens of witnesses. Fireboats arrived and were able to pull everyone safely from the water, in large part because these boaters knew how to keep themselves afloat.

"They said it all happened so fast that they didn't have time to grab life preserver's that were on the boat, but luckily everybody was able to swim," said Carroll.

The two people on the Jetski were treated for minor injuries.

Miami Fire Rescue officials are looking into what caused the wave and if it could have been avoided.