The Jacksonville Fire Rescue Department responded to a two-boat crash Saturday that has reportedly injured multiple people, with at least one person confirmed dead by a Central Florida fire station.
Sanford Fire Department posted on Facebook that Lt. Mike Salber died Saturday afternoon from injuries sustained in a boating accident in Jacksonville.
A battalion chief at the fire department said Salber, who was in his 50s, was hired to work for the Sanford Fire Department in 1996.
"He was a good guy ... [a] hard worker," the battalion chief said.
JFRD responded around 1:41 p.m. Saturday to the St. Johns River near Memorial Park, where two boats are seen on video crashing into each other.
First Coast News has learned that three other people were transported to a nearby hospital following the crash.
The event was a boat race known as Jacksonville Grand Prix of the Sea.
Witnesses said Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Marine Unit first responders rescued the victims and ferried them to shore. They then were taken to UF Health Jacksonville for treatment, event staff said.
The collision involved the Frank and Al’s Pizza boat and the Rapid Building Solutions boat, said Azam Rangoonwala, managing director of Powerboat P1.
Witnesses said the collision happened in the first turn during the third race of the day.
“Everything looked fine then all of a sudden, one boat flipped over then hit the other one ... It was hard to tell because of the rooster tail of water going up but it looked like one boat flipped over the other one,” said Randy Montgomery of Jacksonville, who was watching from the park with his girlfriend.
“It looked like part of one boat broke into pieces after the two boats hit each other,” another witness, Angela Wilisten of Jacksonville said.
Officials canceled the rest of the event following the crash.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission law enforcement officers, as well as Jacksonville police, responded to the river collision.
The Jacksonville event was the third race of the Powerboat P1 SuperStock USA Series. It was the fifth consecutive year the free event was held on the St. Johns River off Memorial Park.
Stay with First Coast News as we continue to follow this developing story.
The Florida Times-Union contributed to this report.