U.S. Coast Guard

Miami Beach Urging Coast Guard to Review Safety of Government Cut

Miami Beach officials are once again urging the U.S. Coast Guard to assess the safety of Government Cut following the deaths of six people since 2016, including the three people who died over the weekend after a boating crash.

Christopher Colgan, Elisaine Colgan and Jeniffer Munoz Cadavid were killed Sunday after their boat crashed into a hard rock jetty. That was the same area where Miami Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez and two others died after his boat hit the jetty and capsized back in 2016.

"In three years, six people have died in this area, and the Coast Guard has exclusive control over it and we need them to look over it again," said Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber.

After Fernandez's death, city officials called on the Coast Guard to conduct a safety assessment of the waterway and jetty. But after surveying the boating community, the Coast Guard concluded that existing aids to mark safe navigation -- including color-coded, lighted buoys and lighted range markers -- were sufficient.

"Look, surveys are great, but they are just possibilities," Gelber said. "We know what's happened in three years. Six people have died and that's really just not okay. So they need to look at this again with a view of doing something."

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