Ferry services to and from the Toronto Islands have been partially restored after a boat struck the dock at the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal late Saturday afternoon.
The first ferries of the day to Ward’s Island and Hanlan’s Point left at 7am on Sunday.
In a series of tweets, Toronto Parks, Forestry and Recreation (PFR) said that due to an incident, ferry service between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island will be operating on a “modified schedule” for the next few weeks.
The city is also advising travelers to “expect much longer than normal wait times through the end of the summer.”
“Until further notice, there will be only three ferries operating between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island – two passenger-only vessels and one vehicle/passenger vessel. Unnecessary vehicular crossing is discouraged,” Toronto PFR said in a tweet.
As a result of Saturday’s docked ferry incident, ferry service between the Jack Layton Ferry Terminal and Toronto Island will operate on a modified schedule and passengers can expect much longer than usual wait times through the end of the summer.
— City of Toronto PFR (@TorontoPFR) August 21, 2022
The accident happened shortly after 5 pm yesterday and 12 people were injured, all with minor injuries. Two children and three adults were taken to hospital for treatment. i.d. Victoria Pfützner of Toronto Paramedic Services said most of the injuries were to the knee.
“There was a collision with the boat as it docked and that caused several passengers to fall forward, resulting in their injuries,” said Toronto Police Duty Insp. Lori Kranenburg told reporters at the scene.
She said there were 912 passengers and six crew members on board the ferry at the time of the incident. The boat involved is the Sam McBride Ferry.
Toronto Fire Chief Steve Buckingham said 10 of their appliances, including two fireboats, responded to the incident to help initially assist in disembarking passengers and sorting out injured persons.
The cause of the crash is unknown.
The Ministry of Labor and the Ministry of Transport have been notified.
Following the incident, the City of Toronto, which operates the island’s ferries, announced that ferry services would be reduced for the remainder of the night.
“City staff will conduct a full investigation and, before resuming full operations, will require an inspector to sign off on the proper procedures and safety measures,” a City of Toronto spokesperson said Saturday evening.
All affected ticket holders were given refunds and ticket sales were suspended last night, they said.
Toronto Mayor John Tory thanked emergency crews and wished the injured well.
Tory also said he “looks forward to finding out exactly how this happened and will support city staff in taking any action to prevent this from happening again.”
Thanks to @TorontoMedics, @Toronto_Fire and @TorontoPolice for responding to the Toronto Island Ferry collision at the ferry terminal. I hope everyone who was taken to hospital recovers quickly.
— John Tory (@TorontosMayor) August 21, 2022
-with files from Bryann Aguilar
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