A judder, a crunch of steel and a daily routine was turned to horror

Staten Island Ferry Crash: A city in devastation again, as collision in high winds delivers New York's worst transport accident in over a generation

For the hundreds of commuters aboard the Andrew J Baberi, a Staten Island ferry, it was a routine trip home from work in Manhattan. Then, without warning, the lumbering vessel juddered and there was a roar of crunching steel and snapping wood. A mundane crossing quickly turned into a scene of awful gore.

The ferry, with its familiar yellow livery, was forging headlong into a concrete pier, just yards from its slip at the Staten Island end of its run. It was a collision - described last night as the worst transport accident in New York in more than a generation - that left at least 10 people dead and many others suffering from horrible injuries. Some lost legs and arms. Amputations were performed on the scene.

Another calamity for the city which, more than any feels it has endured more than its fair share.

Officials implied that it was the wooden pilings, planted in bundles along the pier to protect it, that may have caused the worst of the damage. As they sprung loose, the pilings tore a 40ft gash in the skin of the boat. And, like sharpened lances, they cut down many of the passengers sitting inside.

Witnesses and survivors described minutes of pandemonium, as those who had escaped the first impact ran for cover in other areas of the ferry. Some, fearing for their lives, leaped into the waters of the harbour. The crunching of the collision soon gave way to the sound of screams.

"All of the sudden, on the right hand side, we hit the pilings, monstrous pilings. Everybody was screaming as the pilings protruded through the boat and began ripping the entire side of the boat out," Bob Carrol, a passenger, told the Newsday newspaper.

"It was like the Titanic hitting the iceberg, but instead, the side of the boat was ripped out by these giant wooden beams. It was like a can opener was ripping the whole side of the boat out."

Mr Carrol said he was saved only because he had not been sitting in the area of the impact, on the front right side of the ferry. "If I had been sitting on the right side of the boat, I'd be dead," he said.

Rescue workers swarmed the area of Saint George terminal on Staten Island, rushing to search through the wreckage of the boat's torn superstructure for survivors. Coast guard divers hunted for victims under the water's surface, which was covered by a film of debris.

There are five Staten Island ferries. With their three layers of passenger decks, snub fronts and rears, they are icons of the New York landscape. While they provide a vital commuting link between Staten Island and Manhattan, they are also a favourite for tourists. It costs nothing to board one of the ferries to journey across the water for views of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Now, however, the service has been suspended indefinitely as the authorities rush to determine how one of the boats, that travel the harbour at a normal sedate pace, could have collided so dramatically with the pier. Conditions were unusually windy last night, but visibility was good.

The city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who rushed to the terminal from a Yankees baseball game in the Bronx, discounted earlier reports that the captain had vanished from the scene and attempted to commit suicide at his home on Staten Island. The Mayor said he and a second captain would be the at the heart of the investigation into the crash. Both men were expected to be tested for alcohol and drugs.

Scenes of confusion and carnage were described by passengers and emergency services. At least 34 people were taken to hospital with serious injuries, including amputations. Some of those most badly hurt in the collision were treated dockside before being taken by helicopter to hospitals in the city.

There were no fears of the ferry sinking - the hole in its side was clearly visible above the water line.

Several of those who jumped into the water were pulled out suffering from the early effects of hypothermia.

As many as 70,000 people travel on board the triple-deck ferries every day, with vehicles carried on its iron deck.

Four years ago there was a different accident on the same ferry when a lorry slipped from the deck into the water, injuring one passenger and a crew member.

Referring to the rescue operation as it continued through the night, Mr Bloomberg told an evening press conference at the Staten Island ferry terminal in Manhattan: "At the moment, the fire and police departments are going through the wreckage, shoring up anything they think is in danger. The boat itself has no damage below water line, and no fuel was discharged into the water."

He suggested that there may have been as many as 1,500 on board when it crashed at about 3.20pm.

Erin Baydal, who takes the ferry daily to and from Manhattan, said the journey did not feel any different last night, despite the choppy conditions. After the crash, there was confusion on board, she said. "People were scared. No one knew what was going on, because they didn't make announcements or anything. It was very scary and nerve-wracking." Smoke was also seen coming from the boat after the impact.

Some passengers said that at first they thought ithe 310-ft boat had suffered some kind of explosion. Paul Weidemann, a passenger, said he "thought it was a bomb" when the ferry smashed into the pier. "A bunch of us started running ... we got life preservers and waited."

But city authorities were quick to rule out any suggestion of sabotage. "There is no reason to believe that this was anything but a tragic accident perhaps caused by the wind or the tides" Mr Bloomberg insisted. "At this point we cannot speculate about what exactly happened".

Witnesses said they saw the ferry hitting the pier and its pilings at an acute angle. Others said the vessel seemed to be travelling through the water at an unusually fast pace. "The boat was going three times faster than it usually does. It seemed like it was going to turn, but it didn't," said Thomas Berg, an 11-year-old, who rides the boat most days to his school in Manhattan.

The suspension of the ferry service caused commuting confusion in lower Manhattan as scores of regular riders of the boats struggled to find different ways of reaching Staten Island, which is the furthest-flung and the most suburban of New York City's five boroughs.