Boat Carrying Singer Estefan in Fatal Mishap
The pilot of a personal watercraft died Sunday after colliding with a pleasure boat carrying singer Gloria Estefan and her producer-husband, Emilio.
The Estefans, the only people aboard the 33-foot vessel, weren’t injured. A passenger on the wave runner was hospitalized in stable condition with bruises to her head.
The accident off South Beach apparently was not the fault of Emilio Estefan, who was piloting the boat, said Capt. Mike Lamphear of the Florida Marine Patrol. The boat was going less than 20 m.p.h. about a quarter-mile offshore.
“Both Mr. and Mrs. Estefan were absolutely devastated by the accident,” Lamphear said. “Mrs. Estefan tonight is very, very upset, and she’s doing the best she can to handle a terribly serious situation.”
The wave runner was sent flying after hitting the powerboat’s wake. It hit the rear of the Estefans’ boat and threw the pilot onto the boat’s propeller, Lamphear said.
Howard Clark, a 29-year-old law student at Howard University, died instantly of severe head and chest wounds, the Dade County medical examiner said.
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