Local Woman Dies in Ferry Accident

A Cumberland County woman was killed and two other family members injured when a water taxi capsized in Baltimore this weekend.

Joanne Pierce, 60, died shortly after the vessel overturned Saturday, tossing her and several others into the frigid, choppy waters of Baltimore Harbor, The Daily Journal of Vineland reported Monday. She had gone to the city for a day trip and was on the ferry with her daughter, who remained in a coma Monday at Harbor Hospital, and her husband, Thomas, who escaped serious injury.

The 36-foot pontoon boat, carrying 23 passengers and two crew members, had just set off across the harbor from historic Fort McHenry on the way to the city's Fells Point when it was caught by winds gusting to 50 mph. The boat, which was at full capacity, was equipped with life preservers but passengers are not required to wear them.

Pierce, a longtime staffer in the pediatrics department at Newcomb Hospital in Vineland, had been the office manager at Pediatric Associates for the past few years. Staffers at the Vineland-based medical practice said she was popular with patients and their families, who enjoyed her warmth and compassion.

David Rosenberg, a doctor at the practice, said he drove to Baltimore after Pierce's husband called to tell him of her death.

"It didn't seem real. None of us could believe it," Rosenberg said. "In the 30 years I knew her, I never heard anyone say an unkind word about her."

Rosenberg said Pierce's daughter, whose name was not released, was on a respirator, and her husband also remained under a doctor's care.

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Author: NBC10/AP