Ferry strikes NYC dock; 30 to 50 reported injured

(AP) A ferry from New Jersey made a hard landing at a dock as it pulled up to lower Manhattan during Wednesday morning rush hour, injuring as many as 50 people, at least one critically, officials said.

The Seastreak Wall Street ferry from Atlantic Highlands, N.J., banged into the mooring as it arrived at South Street around 8:45 a.m. Wednesday. One person is in critical condition with head injuries.

Police and fire officials said 30 to 50 people were injured.

Some patients were carried out strapped to flat-board stretchers, their heads and necks immobilized. About a dozen passengers on stretchers were spread out on the dock, surrounded by emergency workers.

A corner of the ferry is ripped open like a tin can.

A passenger, Ellen Foran of Neptune City, N.J., said people tumbled on top of one another, hysterical and crying.

Ferry company officials are at the scene.

Ferries are a fairly common way to commute to work in Manhattan, an island separated from New Jersey and the rest of New York City by several rivers.