Florida drawbridge crushes boat

A pontoon boat with several partying passengers on board in Florida nearly flipped as it sheltered from the rain under a drawbridge that suddenly started to rise.

In March, the boaters had tied up under a section of Cato's Bridge in Jupiter during bad weather when the bridge began folding onto the vessel, almost crushing it.

The terrifying daytime incident was captured by witness Jillian Pisciotta, who feared 'not everyone would make it.'

'I think they were trying to move the boat but the bridge ended up folding on them so they couldn't move,' Pisciotta told ABC. 'I started screaming at them to move. I thought everyone was not going to make it.'

The now-viral video shows the partiers jumping from the thatched-roofed pontoon boat and scrambling in the water for their lives. The drawbridge stopped moving shortly after and nobody was injured.



A distraught group of boaters lived moments of horror when the Cato's Bridge in Jupiter began folding on them after they had tied up their boat under a section to avoid the rain

Palm Beach County said the bridge was authorized to open at the time and that operators had no knowledge of the incident until they were informed about it by a supervisor the next day. There were cameras near the bridge, but officials refused to say whether the area where the boat was tied up was captured by them, ABC reported.

Signs in the area warn boaters to avoid the intercoastal section of the bridge, and stay in the main channel.

The now-viral video shows partiers jumping from the pontoon boat and scrambling in the water for their lives
  
Luckily, the drawbridge stopped folding shortly after and nobody was injured

Signs in the area warn boaters not to go into the intercoastal section of the bridge


                                    Moment boaters jump ship as drawbridge crushes their boat

According to Pisciotta, instead of passing under the main bridge channel, the boaters stopped under a portion of the bridge close to the restricted signs warning 'unauthorized personal prohibited' and 'danger, moving machinery.'

The group had been tied up in the spot during the storm for about 20 minutes before the bridge began folding.

Pisciotta said she and her friends tried to tell the passengers to get off the boat when the bridge started to move, but they couldn't hear them.


'We started screaming at them to move but they ended up not hearing us,' Pisciotta told Good Morning America.

The 47-second video of the scary incident in March has since become viral.

'I thought that someone was going to get hurt or someone was going to end up dying,' Pisciotta told GMA. 'I don't know why they kept going on and off the boat.'

Luckily, no one was injured and when the bridge stopped folding, the group dislodged the boat.

The terrifying incident in March was captured by witness Jillian Pisciotta, who feared 'not everyone would make it.'

Pisciotta said she and her friends tried to tell the passengers to get off the boat, but they couldn't hear them

Palm Beach County said they were authorized to open the Cato's Bridge at the time and that operators had no knowledge of the incident until they were informed about it by a supervisor the next day