MIAMI — A tugboat captain has been charged with manslaughter after a crash involving a barge and a sailboat carrying campers in Miami last summer, which killed three girls.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, of Miami, was charged with seaman’s manslaughter.
Insua was piloting a tugboat pushing a barge loaded with construction debris across Miami’s Biscayne Bay on July 28, prosecutors said. Insua’s forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane, and no one on the vessel was assigned as a lookout.
JUST IN: A tugboat captain is facing manslaughter charges in the death of three children killed when his barge crushed a sailing camp boat in Biscayne Bay. https://t.co/HMLVIcZyoR
— WSVN 7 News (@wsvn) March 31, 2026
Five girls, ranging in age from 7 to 15, and their 19-year-old instructor were on the sailboat when it was struck by the barge near Hibiscus Island, WTVJ reported.
The sailboat had stalled and lost wind, drifting into the barge’s path, WSVN reported.
The girls were in their final week of a sailing camp, according to the Miami Yacht Club. All were wearing lifejackets.
The girls were in their last week of a sailing camp for children aged 7 to 15, according to the Miami Yacht Club.
Three girls were killed when the barge struck the sailboat -- Mila Yankelevich, 7; Arielle Buchman, 10; and Erin Ko, 13 -- WTVJ reported. The three children were trapped in the wreckage and drowned, prosecutors said.
A fourth girl was hospitalized and later released; the fifth girl and the instructor were treated at the scene, according to WTVJ.
The survivors on the sailboat escaped after being dragged under the barge, prosecutors said.
If convicted, Insua faces up to 10 years in federal prison.
“Our hearts are with the families of the children who lost their lives in this tragedy,” U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones said in a statement. “This information alleges a preventable loss of life on our waterways, including the failure to follow basic maritime safety rules and cellphone use during transit at or near the time of the collision.”
Attorney Walter A. Reynoso, who represents Insua, released a statement Tuesday, WTVJ reported.
“Our client remains deeply saddened by the tragic boating accident that resulted in the loss of three young lives. He extends his heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims, while recognizing that no words can lessen the pain caused by this terrible tragedy,” the statement read. “As this matter moves toward resolution, our client intends to accept responsibility for his conduct and to resolve the case in a way that avoids causing the families any further unnecessary pain or anguish.”
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