Coast Guard begins salvage operation and investigates cause of boat collision that killed two girls

MIAMI (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard said it was beginning a salvage operation on Tuesday while investigating the cause of a boat collision near Miami that left two girls dead, one of whom was identified by family friends as the granddaughter of prominent Argentine television producers.

Capt. Frank Florio, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Sector Miami, assured the victims’ family members during a news conference that the Coast Guard and its partners would do everything in their power to learn what caused the crash.

“We owe you answers, and we are committed to finding them,” Florio said.

Officials didn’t immediately identify any of the victims or release a cause for the crash.

The collision between a barge and a sailboat occurred around 11 a.m. Monday in Biscayne Bay, between Miami and Miami Beach. All six people on the sailboat, a teenage sailing camp counselor and five children, ended up in the water. They were in their last week of a camp for children aged 7 to 15, according to the Miami Yacht Club.

All six were pulled from the water, and four were rushed to a Miami hospital, officials said. A 7-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl were pronounced dead shortly after arriving, while two other girls, ages 8 and 11, remained in critical condition Tuesday. A 19-year-old woman and a 12-year-old girl were rescued but not hospitalized.

Local media and prominent TV personalities in Argentina identified the 7-year-old girl killed in the boating crash as Mila Yankelevich, the daughter of director Tomas Yankelevich and actress Sofia Reca and granddaughter of the prominent Argentine television producers Gustavo Yankelevich and Cris Morena.

Marcelo Tinelli, a popular TV host and friend of the family, posted on X that he was “devastated” by Mila’s death.

“I can’t believe it,” he wrote. “My immense love to the entire family, who are part of my life.”

Actor and presenter Nicolás Vázquez, currently starring in the musical “Rocky” produced by Gustavo Yankelevich, expressed his heartbreak on Instagram.

“Mila’s passing is one of those tragedies that hurts to the soul,” he wrote. Addressing Yankelevich he added: “Even if we are not blood relatives, what we feel makes us brothers.”

Across the U.S. last year, there were over 550 deaths in recreational boating, but only a sliver of those — 43 — were caused by vessels crashing into each other, according to Coast Guard statistics.