Wild scene unfolds on New Orleans riverfront as rescuers, witnesses react to ship collision

Clesi was one of the many official and volunteer responders to the crash that took place along New Orleans’ waterfront, in front of crowds about to attend a comedy show, near the headquarters of the Port of New Orleans and in areas thick with tourists.

Official response and confirmed impact

And while the rescues began, the onlookers, largely unable to help, filmed it on their phones, reacting, in real time to a wild sight: one ship T-boning another just feet from where they were standing.

“Wow! Wow!” someone said as he captured the white paddle-wheeler sinking sideways into the murky Mississippi.

As the white ship dropped into the water with alarming speed, people in bright red-orange life jackets swam, floated, yelled.

The camera swung left, then right. Someone threw a buoy. Someone extended a ladder. “Oh s—-!” said Randy Christie, as he zoomed in.

“It’s [expletive] going under, bro… “That big-ass green boat took that big boat out, bro,” he said, using an expletive.

Moments before Christie started filming, the tanker seemed to be making a turn beneath the Crescent City Connection bridge. Soon after, it hit the cruise ship.