A trip to Florida nearly turned into tragedy for a group of Quebecers who took a trip to Everglades National Park to celebrate their 35th birthday.
The hydrofoil trip was to allow Quebecers to explore the swampy areas of the national park.
However, the situation took a worrying turn when the boat they were in capsized among the crocodiles on Friday afternoon.
There were ten passengers on board.
It is believed that the driver's maneuver was the cause of the rollover, when he attempted to approach a nearby crocodile by making a particularly sharp turn.
The passengers who fell into the water tried to refloat the boat to no avail. The group found themselves stuck in the swamp for approximately ten minutes before help arrived on the scene.
“We were still nervous. We had a lady with us who called the police. For his part, the driver called for reinforcements, and then it took about 10-15 minutes before the boats arrived to rescue us,” explains Philip Noel, who explains that the group had water almost “up to their navels.” .
“We had just noticed crocodiles not far away, so it was still very stressful,” he adds.
The group was welcomed to the stage by a veritable committee. Local media, police, politicians and helicopters were already on site.
Fortunately, no one was hurt.
Mr. Noel also denounced the lack of training of the driver who was arrested because he did not have a valid license allowing him to drive the boat he was in charge of.
To know all the details, listen to our report in the video at the beginning of the article.
