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by Fernanda Santos
About 135 people were rescued from a Circle Line tour boat yesterday after it began taking on water halfway through a three-hour ride around Manhattan, authorities said.
Firefighters worked for two hours on land and in the water to help the stranded tourists to safety after a pump room was flooded with about 4 feet of water, FDNY spokesman Sean Johnson said.
The tourists stepped ashore in the Bronx at 5:20 p.m. and had to walk across train tracks to reach buses, which ferried them back to Manhattan, Johnson said.
Amtrak halted freight traffic on the tracks during the rescue, which wrapped up at 7:20p.m.
The flooding began after the boat hit something as it sailed under the Third Ave. Bridge in Harlem, said Petty Officer Mike Hvozda, a Coast Guard spokesman.
There were no reported injuries, Johnson said.
Circle Line workers used a pair of pumps to drain the water from the boat, Hvozda said.
A Coast Guard crew searched the area under the Third Ave. Bridge, but weren't sure yet what had caused the damage.
"We haven't located anything," Hvozda said last night.
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