Free Republic

The captain of an illegal charter boat that flipped in New York Harbor, killing a mom and her baby, is an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who is now in federal immigration custody, The Post has learned. Manuel Hernandez, 46, a limo driver without a boating license, was in the US illegally when he capsized the overloaded 21-foot vessel on Aug. 8, drowning Sara Sanchez and her baby daughter, Antonella Garcia, the Department of Homeland Security said Wednesday. “This criminal illegal alien was illegally and recklessly conducting unlicensed boat tours in New York Harbor when his boat capsized, killing a...

William Allen Kruse, 55, a charter boat captain recently hired by BP as a vessel of opportunity out of Gulf Shores, Ala., died Wednesday morning before 7:30 a.m. of a gunshot to the head, likely self-inflicted, authorities said. "He had been quite despondent about the oil crisis," said Stan Vinson, coroner for Baldwin County, which includes Gulf Shores. Kruse, who lived with his family in nearby Foley, Ala., reported to work Wednesday morning as usual at the Gulf Shores Marina on Fort Morgan Road in Gulf Shores, Vinson said. He met up with his two deckhands at his boat, The...

Oil was again gushing uncontrollably from the BP spill site on Wednesday after the company was forced to remove the containment cap when a robotic submarine hit a vent. The news came as officials also reported two deaths in the response effort. BP hoped to reinstall the cap later Wednesday after fixing the vent and checking for safety. Earlier Wednesday, BP said that Bob Dudley was appointed to head the new Gulf Coast Restoration Organization, which is in charge of cleaning up the oil spill.