Another horrifying boat crash on Barnegat Bay kills NJ man, 26

🚨A boat crash in Barnegat Bay Saturday night killed one person

🚨Five people were aboard the boat when it struck a canal marker

🚨It is the second fatal boat crash involving a canal marker in a week

TOMS RIVER — Another deadly boating crash involving an Intracoastal Waterway channel marker has claimed a life in Ocean County, less than a week after two children were killed in a similar collision.

A 32-foot Boston Whaler carrying five people struck a channel marker in Barnegat Bay just before 11 p.m. Saturday on one of the busiest boating weekends of the summer,  according to State Police Trooper Christopher Postorino.

Michael T. Bereheiko, 26, of Green Brook, was pronounced dead at the hospital, troopers said.

Authorities released few details about the incident but said first responders encountered the victims at a residence on Silver Lagoon Drive in Toms River, where the boat operator, Kevin Wells, 39, of Warren Township, piloted the vessel to after the crash.

Steven Pochick, 27, of Green Brook, and Nicholas Cherasaro, 27, of North Plainfield, were sent to the hospital for serious injuries. Sarah Stulh, 24, from the Bayville section of Berkeley, had what troopers described as minor injuries.

Second deadly channel marker crash in Barnegat Bay

Saturday night's collision came less than a week after another devastating boating accident in Barnegat Bay.

Late on July 19, a boat operated by 63-year-old Stephen Schneider, of the Bayville section of Berkeley, crashed into an Intracoastal Waterway channel marker, killing his young grandson and granddaughter.

ALSO READ: New Jersey 101.5 Shore Report

Map shows locations of Barnegat Bay and Tices Shoal

Ocean County boating crash on a busy summer weekend

The Ocean County Sheriff's Office posted a reminder about boating safety on Sunday morning.

"We remind the public to be responsible while operating a boat whether you're at Tices Shoal today or anywhere. Operating a boat should be like operating a vehicle. Make good decisions," the Sheriff's Office said.

The annual Floatshoalla event was held in Barnegat Bay on Saturday and Sunday, described as the "biggest boat party on the Jersey Shore." It also features DJs and swimming on the bay side of Island Beach State Park at Tices Shoal but is accessible only by watercraft.

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