Pleasure boat runs aground near Statue of Liberty; all 8 aboard rescued, no injuries reported

Boat runs aground off Liberty Island; 8 rescued

NEW YORK — A boat has run aground and taken on water near the Statue of Liberty. All eight people aboard have been rescued.

Coast Guard spokesman David Schuhlein (SHOO’-lyn) says the 36-foot pleasure boat hit a sandbar between Liberty Island and Liberty State Park in Jersey City, N.J., on Sunday afternoon.

He says the eight adults aboard were wearing life jackets and weren’t hurt. Six were taken to a Coast Guard station on Staten Island, where relatives picked them up. The other two plan to remain with the Coast Guard until the motorboat is salvaged.

In April 2008 a private ferry boat with no passengers aboard ran aground near Liberty Island. No one was hurt.