Emergency officials prepare a woman to be taken to a hospital after
a boat accident Friday night near Carolina Beach. F.T. Norton/StarNews
Published: Friday, July 10, 2015
CAROLINA BEACH, NC
About a half dozen party boat passengers were injured Friday night, fellow passengers said, when the boat struck a wall while departing for a cruise.
Brandon Hancock and Livingston Paula said they were among dozens
of passengers -- including numerous children -- aboard the Royal Winner
Princess II party cruise when it struck a wall near Snows Cut.About a half dozen party boat passengers were injured Friday night, fellow passengers said, when the boat struck a wall while departing for a cruise.
They said it was a hard hit and people went flying. Hancock and Paula said it took about half an hour for the boat to return to its Winner Drive dock after the accident.
Paramedics went aboard the boat after 9:30 p.m. to triage the patients, using colored tags to indicate the severity of their injuries.
At least one woman was seen being carried from the boat and placed on a gurney before being taken away in an ambulance. She wore a neck brace.
At least five people were taken to hospitals by ambulance.
Carolina Beach police and Fire Chief Alan Griffin declined to comment, referring questions to N.C. Wildlife Commission officers at the scene.
Passenger Dawn Harris of Houston, Texas, and formerly of Carolina Beach, said she was with a group of 22 women participating in a ladies' night out on the cruise.
Harris, who was on the bow of the boat with her friends, said she tried to warn the captain before the boat hit the wall.
"For five minutes I was yelling, 'Where are you going? You're going to hit the wall!' I turned and looked and he was on his cellphone. And then we hit the wall," Harris said.
Her friends Vicki Hoss of Carolina Beach and Shannon Szczypta confirmed what Harris said.
"This was a bummer of a ladies' night out," Hoss said.
The 120-foot-long Royal Winner Princess II is described on the Winner Boats website as one of the company's two "400-passenger dinner and dance cruise ships with three decks."