Tragic New York Harbor boat crash victims ID’d as mom and her 5-month-old infant — with baby’s stricken dad also on board
New York Post · RC · trust 34/100
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Add The New York Post on Google The two tragic passengers killed when the dangerously overcrowded motorboat they were on flipped in New York Harbor have been ID’d as a mom and her infant daughter from Queens, police sources said Sunday.
Sara Sanchez, 27, and her 5-month-old, Antonella Garcia, of College Point, were among 14 people on the 2019 21-foot white Yamaha AR210 when it capsized close to Liberty Island just before 10:30 p.m. Saturday, sources said.
Sanchez’s boyfriend, who was Garcia’s father, was among those on board at the time, according to the police.
A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers crane vessel lifts an overturned boat from New York Harbor at the NYPD Harbor Unit base in Brooklyn on Sunday, August 9, 2026. The vessel capsized off Liberty Island on Saturday, leaving a 27-year-old woman and a 5-month-old child dead. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post) Luiz C. Ribeiro for NY Post FDNY units respond to a capsized vessel on Saturday, August 8, 2026, off Liberty Island. A woman and a child were pulled from the water in critical condition and at least six other victims were hospitalized after the boat overturned with more than a dozen people on board. (Paul Martinka (C) 2026) Paul Martinka for NY Post The vessel typically has a capacity of about 10 people, according to online sites.
But it should not have been carrying more than five passengers, given the location where the fatal incident occurred, a well-placed source told The Post.
“Recreational boating in New York Harbor is the Wild West,’’ the source said. “Uncharted debris, rip rap, bridge abutments, anchorage chains, commercial shipping channels, marine plane traffic.”
The boat’s operator, Manuel Hernandez, 46, was hit with 13 charges of reckless endangerment , with further possible charges expected to involve the deaths of the mother and child, sources said.
His last known address was a swanky Midtown Manhattan building just south of Central Park. His exact relationship to the victims is unknown.
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