Police Divers Hope To Recover Remains Of Missing Tugboat Crewmember
TARRYTOWN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Police divers are back in the Hudson River Tuesday hoping to recover the remains of the third missing crew member of a tugboat that crashed into a barge near the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The NYPD's Special Operations Division, which assisted New York State police and Westchester County police at the crash site, released a Sidescan sonar image of the tug under water. A visible outline of the boat can clearly be seen as well as other details of the vessel.
A commercial maritime salvage company is trying to raise the boat where the remains of Harry Hernandez have been located.
Hernandez, of Staten Island, was a crew member on board the 90-foot tugboat named Specialist that crashed into a stationary construction barge Saturday morning.
The tugboat was one of three escorting another barge carrying a crane from Albany to Jersey City. The Specialist was the boat on the right as the operation drifted towards the construction barge.
The tugboat sank, spilling about 5,000 gallons of fuel into the water. A tugboat on the left side of the barge that was being pushed, as well as one that was pushing the barge from the rear, were not involved in the accident.
Two other crew members were also killed. On Sunday, divers recovered the body of Timothy Conklin, of Westbury, New York. The body of Paul Amon, of Bayville, New Jersey, was retrieved Saturday.
Their autopsies showed they died from drowning, authorities said Monday.
Police said investigators still were conducting interviews and trying to piece together exactly what happened, WCBS 880's Stephanie Colombini reported.
"There are a lot of different accounts so they need to corroborate testimony," Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said.
A spokeswoman for Tappan Zee Constructors, a consortium of companies building the new bridge, said the company is cooperating in the investigation.
James Mercante, an attorney for the owner of Specialist, said the crew was licensed, competent and experienced personnel. He called the crash "a shocking, horrific marine tragedy."
(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
