Stamford Police said Wednesday that the search and rescue in the Long Island Sound Sunday was “miraculous,” despite the drowning death of a New Rochelle Firefighter. “It could have been a triple fatality,” said one police officer.
Scott Morris, 31, the operator of the 27-foot boat, was one of three people that were ejected when the boat slammed into a breakwall at the Stamford harbor’s entrance and flipped over about 10:30 pm Sunday. The boat’s two other passengers were initially trapped in the boat’s cabin, submerged in water, but able to breathe in a small air pocket, before divers came to their rescue, said state and local police.
“It was like a jungle under the boat,” said a Stamford police diver who was able to reach the two people. He described bravely feeling his way to them, and saving their lives at a Stamford news conference Wednesday.
Police say the boaters were cruising back to New Rochelle after visiting The Crab Shell, a Stamford restaurant,
The Norwalk Hour reports, “The boat hit Stamford Harbor’s east breakwall approximately 100 feet away from a red light marking the entrance of the harbor….Morris’ body was found near the accident site, 15 feet under the water’s surface, at 12:15 p.m. Monday, more than 12 hours after state and local search and rescue teams began looking for him, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP).