Two girls were killed and two others were critically injured when a sailboat operated by a Miami sailing camp collided with a barge Monday.

The barge, which was carrying a crane, collided with the sailboat around 11 a.m., sending the five kids and one adult on board into the waters of Biscayne Bay, which lies between Miami and Miami Beach, Florida. The sunken boat was pinned under the barge.

All six people on the boat were recovered from the water, the Coast Guard said. Responders got four of the kids to a local hospital, where staff pronounced a 7-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl dead. 

An 8-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl remain in the hospital in critical condition, the Coast Guard said.

“The crane just completely destroyed the boat. The boat just went under. I heard one girl yell, ’Help,’ from under the crane and two girls jumped off the wave and the crane barely missed them,” an 8-year-old witness, who did not want to be identified, told Miami’s WFOR-TV.

The other two people from the sailboat, a 12-year-old girl and a 19-year-old woman, were rescued and were in “good condition,” Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 3rd Class Nicholas Strasburg told The Associated Press.

The Coast Guard did not name any of the victims and did not mention any injury to the people on board the barge. The victims were campers with the Miami Yacht Club’s Youth Sailing Foundation.

“The entire sailing community is devastated by the unthinkable tragedy… MYC stands in solidarity with the Youth Sailing Foundation, their sailors, their staff, and everyone affected,” the Miami Yacht Club said in a statement on social media. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families, the sailors, and the dedicated instructors and volunteers who give so much to this program. We will continue to support the Youth Sailing Foundation in every way we can in the days ahead.”

The Coast Guard said investigation of the cause of the collision is ongoing.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.