1 dead, 2 missing following boat accident in Old Saybrook

The video above aired on Sept. 3.

OLD SAYBROOK, Conn. (WTNH) — A man was found dead, and two people are missing after a boat accident in Old Saybrook Monday night, according to the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

The search resumed Tuesday morning for two men who are still missing. State Environmental Conservation officials said they believe their mission is a recovery effort, although they “always hope for the best.”

Crews are expected to resume around 8 a.m. Wednesday.

Officials with DEEP said the accident happened before 9:15 p.m. Monday as the boat was coming from Block Island. Emergency crews on scene found a half-submerged 31-foot single motorboat with significant damage near the Harbor One Marina.

The video below discusses boating safety. It aired on Sept. 3.

In total, nine people were on the boat at the time of the crash. A man was found dead inside the “significantly” damaged vessel, and six people were transported to the hospital– several of them after being ejected from the boat.

EnCon officials Tuesday said the boat operator is in critical condition and another person has been released from the hospital.

According to DEEP officials, the boat hit the northern end of the east break wall at the mouth of the Connecticut River. It is not yet clear how the crash happened.

“It was an incoming tide — which probably helped in our search efforts, because the boat was recovered well north of that break wall,” Capt. Keith Williams, with conservation police, said. “One of the opposing factors that we had was, environmentally, was the north wind that shifted last night.”

According to the North Madison Volunteer Fire Company, the accident was declared a mass casualty incident.

The video below was our original reporting about the cras h. It aired on Sept. 2.

The search was suspended for the missing boaters Monday night around 2:30 a.m. and resumed Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. The search is expected to resume at 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Multiple crews from surrounding towns responded, including Middletown Fire, Middlesex Health (EMTs), Portland Fire, Essex Fire, Goshen Fire, Old Saybrook Fire and Police, Old Lyme Fire, Clinton Ambulance, the U.S. Coast Guard, Life Star, and the State Police Dive Unit.

“Driving at night is very difficult on a boat, unless you know the waters you’re in,” Charlie McSorley, harbormaster at Westbrook Harbor, said.

Nearly a year ago, four people were injured after a cigarette boat crashed into a break wall off Old Saybrook on Sept. 4, 2023.

This is a developing story. Stay with News 8 for more information.

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