Federal prosecutors have charged the operator of a tugboat that was pushing a barge that crashed into a sailboat in Miami Beach in July, killing three children.
The operator, Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, faces one count of seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the crash, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Prosecutors say Mr. Insua was operating a tugboat that was pushing a barge across Biscayne Bay on July 28 when the barge struck a stalled sailboat. The sailboat was carrying five girls, ages 7 to 13, and a 19-year-old female counselor from a sailing camp run by the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation, according to the Miami Yacht Club. Three of the campers were killed in the crash.
The barge was transporting construction materials, as well as a crane, court documents said. Mr. Insua’s view was blocked by a deckhouse and the crane, leaving him “unable to see what was in front of the vessel,” according to the court documents. Although there was another person on the deck of the barge, that person was at the rear of the barge at the time of the crash, the court documents said.
The counselor tried to alert the barge that the sailboat had stalled, according to the documents. But because of the “obstructed visibility and lack of a lookout,” Mr. Insua “did not see the stalled sailboat before the barge struck it,” prosecutors said in a news release announcing the charge on Tuesday.
A forensic review of Mr. Insua’s cellphone also “revealed internet activity during transit, including at or near the time of the collision,” the news release said.
It was not immediately clear on Tuesday if Mr. Insua had a lawyer.
The tugboat is owned by Waterfront Construction, a Miami firm, according to the company’s lawyer and a lawsuit that one of the girls’ families filed in Miami-Dade County.
Here’s what we know about the crash.
The crash
Just before 11:30 a.m. on July 28, the U.S. Coast Guard received a report that a barge had struck a sailboat with six people on board near Hibiscus and Monument islands in Miami Beach.
The camp counselor and two of the campers were pulled from the water after the barge struck the sailboat, according to court documents. The other three passengers were caught in the sailboat’s wreckage and pinned against the bottom of the barge.
The counselor and others attempted to rescue the girls but were unsuccessful, court documents said. Rescue divers pulled the three girls from the water.
The authorities said they believed that all of the girls and the counselor were wearing life jackets.
The counselor, the person on the barge and the pilot of the tug, later identified as Mr. Insua, were tested for drugs and alcohol, and the results all came back negative, according to Petty Officer Third Class Nicholas Strasburg of the Coast Guard in Miami Beach.
The sailboat was removed from the water soon after the crash, he said, as were the barge and tugboat.
The victims
Four of the girls were taken to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, where two of them died later on the day of the crash, the Coast Guard said.
The Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner’s Office identified them as Mila Yankelevich, 7, and Erin Ko, 13.
Days later, the family of Arielle Buchman, 10, announced she, too, had died.
Around the same time, one of the survivors, Calena Areyan Gruber, 7, was released from the hospital to recover from her injuries.
Shortly after her release, her parents, Karina Gruber Moreno and Enrique Areyan Viqueira, issued a statement.
“Our hearts are broken for the families who suffered the most unthinkable tragedy in last week’s collision,” the family said. “This is a deeply harrowing reminder of how suddenly and senselessly life can change.”
In August, the parents of one of the girls who survived the crash filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade County Circuit Court against Waterfront Construction, the Miami Yacht Club and the Youth Sailing Foundation, claiming they were “careless, reckless and negligent” and failed to take “evasive action” to avoid the crash.
What is the Miami Yacht Club?
The sailing club, which was established in 1927, runs summer camps for children and teens who learn how to sail, windsurf and use paddle boards. The club sits along Biscayne Bay between downtown Miami and Miami Beach.
The club offered an eight-week summer program to children between the ages of 7 and 12. The 2025 program began on June 9 and was in its eighth week when the crash occurred.
“The entire sailing community is devastated by the unthinkable tragedy that occurred yesterday,” the club said on social media the day after the crash. “Our hearts are with the families who have been forever changed by these tragic events.”
Kitty Bennett contributed research.
Johnny Diaz is a reporter for The Times covering breaking news from Miami.
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