correction
A previous version of this article gave an incorrect location for Boca Chita Key. It is in the northern Keys in Biscayne Bay. The article has been corrected.
A senior at a Miami high school was killed and 10 others were injured after a boat collision Sunday in the Florida Keys.
Lucy Fernandez, 17, was on a vessel with 13 other people when the 29-foot Robalo Center Console crashed about 6:30 p.m. near Boca Chita Key in Biscayne Bay. Eleven people, including Fernandez, were hurt, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said. Four suffered traumatic injuries and were airlifted to a hospital.
Fernandez, a student at Our Lady of Lourdes Academy in Miami, died of her injuries Monday.
“Known for her smile, larger than life personality and signature laugh, Lucy was a joy to all who knew her and a shining light at our school,” her all-girls Catholic high school wrote on Facebook. “The hundreds of people who joined us in the grotto this evening, to pray for the repose of her soul, are a testament to her beautiful legacy of faith, love and sisterhood.”
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The boat capsized after hitting a channel marker, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Everyone on board, including two adults and 12 juveniles, was ejected. Alcohol does not appear to have contributed to the collision, the commission said.
Share this articleShareMiami-Dade police arrived at the crash site first and pulled people — some critically injured — out of the water, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Capt. Juan Garrandes said in a video provided by the fire rescue agency. Police brought them to the island of Elliott Key, where some were airlifted. Fire rescue workers then helped police pull other people out of the water, evaluated them and transported some to hospitals, Garrandes said.
Several people wrapped in white blankets walked off a fire boat docked at Black Point Marina in Homestead, Fla., where first responders evaluated patients, video provided by the fire rescue agency shows.
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The status of the 10 injured people was unclear Tuesday. Sister Carmen T. Fernández, Our Lady of Lourdes president, wrote in a letter to community members Monday that two of the injured were also seniors at the school.
Students from Carrollton School of the Sacred Heart in Miami were also hurt. That school held a rosary prayer service Monday evening.
As the sun rose Tuesday, dozens of Lourdes students, dressed in their school uniforms, gathered along the shore to pay tribute to Fernandez, Miami-based television station WSVN reported. Students from Lourdes and other local schools also gathered Monday evening for a vigil.
“For Lucy, her faith was a foundation, and so I think in a time with so much heartbreak and so much confusion and so much loss, I think the only thing that we know how to do or what to do is to come together in prayer,” Lourdes theology teacher Alexandra Diaz told WSVN.
Fernandez was known for her “larger than life personality,” Carmen Fernández wrote in her letter.
“She was a young woman of faith, well liked by her teachers and peers, empathetic, faithful and hungry for God,” Fernández wrote. “And though her sudden passing is heartbreaking and has come as a shock to us all, I have absolutely no doubt that Lucy was ready to meet our Lord and enter his Kingdom.”
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