Videos on social media show influencers taking pictures as a luxury yacht sank off Miami Beach on Saturday.
The Context
The U.S. Coast Guard said 32 people were rescued from a 63-foot vessel that was taking on water near Flagler Monument Island on Saturday.
What To Know
Photos shared by the Coast Guard on social media show at least a dozen people, some of them wearing life jackets, aboard the yacht as it took on water.
Some appear to be holding phones and taking pictures or filming videos.
Footage posted on social media showed several young men taking photos or videos after being rescued, according to the New York Post.
“No f**** given,” a person said in a video posted on Instagram, according to the newspaper. “Everyone on the sinking yacht taking selfies.”
Another video, posted by Miami guide Luis Leon Martinez, showed women laughing after being rescued from the yacht.
“Women and children first, women and children,” a man can be heard shouting in the clip, as some of the rescued women laugh. “It’s giving Titanic,” one women is heard saying.
Miami Beach Police responded to reports of the vessel taking on water at around 5 p.m.
All 32 people were rescued with no injuries, the Coast Guard said.
Other agencies, including the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and “good Samaritan” boat operators in the vicinity, also helped with the rescue, the Coast Guard said.
Dispatch calls and witnesses referred to the yacht as a “Lamborghini vessel,” but the exact model was not confirmed, said CBS News Miami. Yachts Worldwide, an Instagram account dedicated to yachts, identified it as a $4 million Lamborghini Tecnomar in a recent video of the sinking vessel.
Newsweek has contacted the Coast Guard and FWC for comment via emails sent outside regular business hours.
What People Are Saying
The U.S. Coast Guard Southeast wrote on X: “A @USCG Sta #MiamiBeach crew & partner agencies responded to a 63-ft vessel taking on water near Monument Island rescuing 32 people w/no injuries reported around 5 p.m., Sat.”
Rachael Miller told CBS News Miami: “We were just on the boat and we saw a bunch of cops, police boats, and there was another yacht that was flipped over completely vertically in the water.
“It was vertical. Yeah, it was straight up in the water. It definitely didn’t look ordinary, and it’s just very concerning.”
What’s Next
It wasn’t immediately clear what caused the vessel to sink. The FWC is investigating.
The Coast Guard said commercial salvage crews are working to recover the yacht.
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