From the Assosciated Press:

A Staten Island ferry slammed into a pier as it was docking Wednesday, killing at least 10 people, tearing off victims' limbs and sending passengers leaping into the water, officials said. At least 34 people were injured.

The 310-foot ferry, carrying about 1,500 passengers, plowed into the enormous wooden pilings on the Staten Island end of its run from Manhattan, reducing the front of the mighty boat to a mass of shattered planks, broken glass and twisted steel.

The crash happened on a windswept afternoon, with gusts over 40 mph and the water in New York Harbor very choppy.

"Everyone just jumped for their lives," rider Bob Carroll told TV station NY1. "It was like an absolute horror. ... The whole side of the boat looked like an opener on a can."

The ship's captain fled and was tracked down by police at his Staten Island home, said a high-ranking police source, speaking on condition of anonymity. The ferry's crew will be interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

At least 10 people were killed and 34 injured, the mayor said, making it New York's worst mass-transit accident in at least a generation. Some bodies were accidentally counted twice, leading to an initial report by city officials that 14 people were dead.

"It's a terrible tragedy, people who were on the way home, all of a sudden, taken from us," Bloomberg said at a dockside press conference.

Firefighters picked their way through the debris aboard the ship, the Andrew J. Barberi, looking for victims, and Coast Guard divers searched the water. At least one body was recovered from the water.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known, although Bloomberg suggested the heavy wind as a possibility. The National Transportation Safety Board convened an accident investigation team, which will look at the weather, among other possible factors.

"The ferry was coming too fast," said witness William Gonzalez, who lives in a nearby apartment complex. "They had no control to stop the boat."

Commuters were trapped in piles of debris aboard the 22-year-old ferry, and victims screamed and dove for cover as metal crunched into wood just before the start of the evening rush hour, tearing girders, splintering planks and ripping a huge hole in the right side of the three-level, bright-orange vessel, which has a capacity of 6,000 passengers.

"People who were sitting there as the ferry docked were hit by the pilings that came through the side of the boat," the mayor said. The pilings hit on the ferry's main deck, crashing into the windows that ordinarily afford a postcard view of the Statue of Liberty.

"There were numerous injuries like fractures and lacerations," said Fire Department spokeswoman Maria Lamberti. "There were a couple of people with amputations _ legs and arms."

Victims also suffered back and spinal injuries, chest pains, and hypothermia from the water, which was about 62 degrees.

The five-mile trip between Staten Island and Manhattan normally takes 25 minutes. A free ride on the Staten Island Ferry is one of the city's most beloved attractions to New Yorkers and tourists alike, giving visitors a Hollywood-style view of lower Manhattan's skyscrapers.

The seven boats that make up the Staten Island Ferry fleet carry 70,000 commuters a day between Staten Island and lower Manhattan. The boats make 104 daily trips between the two boroughs. The Andrew J. Barberi travels at about 18 mph.

Service was suspended on all Staten Island ferries after the accident.

The mayor, who was attending the New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox game with the American League pennant on the line, left Yankee Stadium to head to the scene. He boarded the ferry to assess the damage himself.

Steamboat ferries began operating between Manhattan and Staten Island in 1817. A railroad company ran the ferry from 1884 until 1905, when it was taken over by the city. It is now run by the city Transportation Department.

In 1997, a car plunged off the ferry as it was docking in Staten Island, causing minor injuries to the driver and a deckhand who was knocked overboard by the car.

A New York City subway crash in 1991 killed five people and injured more than 140. Federal investigators blamed the motorman's heavy drinking and lack of sleep.

Two people were killed and about 150 injured in December in a fire in a subway tunnel between Manhattan and Brooklyn.

A boiler explosion aboard a ferry killed 104 passengers as it was preparing to leave lower Manhattan for Staten Island in 1871. New York's worst subway accident occurred in 1918, when a train derailed in Brooklyn, killing 92 people.

In the summer of 1986, a man wielding a sword attacked riders on a ferry, killing two and injuring nine others before he was subdued by a retired police officer.

I've been on one of these. I can imagine how scary it must've been.

I just saw this on the news. Th mayor said all the employees involved would be tested for drugs and alcohol. So sad and scary

I've been watching this. It's terrible.

Who was sailing this boat? Uncle fucking Albert?

Number23 said:

They said it was more than likely caused by the high winds.

SONG FOR SHARON

I went to Staten Island, Sharon
To buy myself a mandolin
And I saw the long white dress of love
On a storefront mannequin
Big boat chuggin' back with a belly full of cars...
All for something lacy
Some girl's going to see that dress
And crave that day like crazy

Joni Mitchell

tearing off peoples limbs?? Ohmyfuckinggod. How horrible.

its windy as hell here in NY, its a tragedy its all over the news and the strong wind did play a factor the person handling the ferry is being tested for drugs and Alcohol. they say its Mandatory. so we'll have to see.

Finess said:

It sure as hell was!

There were some trees down out here and shingles blowing off rooves etc.

It was weird too. Such a nice day otherwise.

TRON said:

shit i didnt know he fled, thats a bad fuckin sign right there, either he had somethin to hide or paniced, or both...