Ferry crash captain tries to kill himself

The man steering the Staten Island ferry when it crashed, killing at least 10 people, was said today to have attempted suicide minutes after the disaster.

Dozens of passengers were injured, some losing limbs, as the ferry slammed into a pier at the end of its voyage across New York harbour last night.

Investigators probing the crash are focusing on the actions of assistant captain Robert Smith as he piloted it towards the dock.

Mr Smith, 55, was reported to have fled the crash scene, heading to his home nearby and attempting to kill himself. He is being treated in hospital under police guard after locking himself in a bathroom, then slashing his wrists and shooting himself twice in the chest with a powerful pellet gun.

Members of the crew were also being interviewed and tested for drugs and alcohol.

Witnesses said the 310ft-long ferry appeared to be off course and moving too fast as it prepared to dock at Staten Island's St George Terminal. Gale force winds that swept New York yesterday with gusts of up to 40mph may also have contributed to the accident.

One report said the captain had shouted at Mr Smith, then tried to take control of the 3,000-ton vessel when he did not respond. Despite a last attempt to swing the ship round, the prow slammed into a wood and concrete maintenance pier.

Debris from the pier, including sections of huge wooden pilings, sliced through the lower deck, burying many victims and hurling some into the water.

Among the dead was Pio Canini, 52, who was returning home on the 3pm sailing after working at a Manhattan building site.

His son, Keith, blamed the pilot, saying: "This guy murdered my father."

Another victim, waiter Paul Espositio, 24, had both legs amputated in hospital. He had been living with his parents but was about to move in with his brother in Manhattan so he could stop taking the 25-minute ferry journey.

The force of the collision destroyed part of the pier and reduced the front of the ferry to a mass of twisted steel and broken glass. Commuters who had been waiting to disembark were buried under tons of wreckage and rescuers dug frantically to save them.

Lawyer Robert Carroll said the whole side of the ferry disappeared in the crash. "At one point I was in a pile," he said. "I just got up and kept running. It kept coming and coming. If you didn't keep running you were dead."

At least two of the dead were decapitated. Local hospitals said that they had treated more than 34 people including three who had lost limbs and one victim suffering from hypothermia after being pulled from the water by divers.

There were several minutes of chaos on the ship until it was pushed by tugs into its proper berth 400 feet away.

About 1,500 people were on board the Andrew J Barberi, which was built in 1981 and can carry up to 6,000 passengers.

The ferry is part of a fleet of seven which make more than 100 trips every day between Staten Island and the terminal at the southern tip of Manhattan, less than half a mile from the World Trade Center.

Nearly a quarter of those killed on September 11 lived on Staten Island, almost all using the ferry. The distinctive yellow ferries, which carry 65,000 passengers a day, are as much a symbol of New York as the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty, which they sail past.

The free trip is on the itinerary of most tourists, although there were no reports of British victims.

All services on the ferry were cancelled following the disaster, although sailings are expected to resume later today.