Captain charged after woman and five-month-old die in New York boat capsizing

The captain of a boat that capsized in the New York harbor on Saturday evening has been charged following the deaths of a 27-year-old woman and five-month-old girl.Manuel Hernandez, 46, was arrested and charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment in the early hours of Sunday morning, a New York Police Department spokesperson told The Guardian.Police responded to a 911 call at 10.25pm by deploying a helicopter unit to the scene, where divers then found the woman and baby in the water, the spokesperson said.The two victims, whose names have not been released, were then transported in critical condition to NYU Langone hospital in Brooklyn, where they were pronounced dead.“On Saturday, August 8, 2026, at approximately 2225 hours, police received a 911 call reporting an overturned vessel in the vicinity of Liberty Island, within the confines of the 1st Precinct,” the NYPD said. “The NYPD’s Harbor Unit, SCUBA Team and Aviation responded to the scene.”A dozen other people were rescued from the vessel before the police arrived, and later transported to hospitals, according to the spokesperson.