A mother and her five-month-old daughter have been identified as the two people who died after an overcrowded motorboat capsized in New York Harbor, police sources said. Sara Sanchez, 27, and her daughter, Antonella Garcia, who were from College Point in Queens, were among 14 people aboard the 2019 21ft Yamaha AR210 when it overturned near Liberty Island shortly before 22:30 local time on Saturday.

Sanchez’s boyfriend, who was the baby’s father, was also on the boat, police said.

The vessel was carrying more passengers than it was designed for. Online listings indicate the boat typically has a capacity of about 10 people. However, a source cited by the New York Post said the boat should not have been carrying more than five passengers given the location of the incident.

“Recreational boating in New York Harbor is the Wild West,” the source said, citing hazards including “uncharted debris, rip rap, bridge abutments, anchorage chains, commercial shipping channels, marine plane traffic”.

Emergency crews rescued 12 people from the water following the capsizing. At least six were taken to hospital, while the mother and child were found in critical condition and later died. The boat was recovered from the harbor on Sunday by a US Army Corps of Engineers crane vessel.

The vessel’s operator, Manuel Hernandez, 46, was charged with 13 counts of reckless endangerment, according to sources. Further charges relating to the deaths of Sanchez and her daughter could follow.

Hernandez’s last known address was in a Manhattan building south of Central Park. His exact relationship to the victims was not immediately known.

The circumstances surrounding the capsizing remain under investigation.

Video of the incident shows blue and red emergency craft lights in the harbor’s darkness searching the waters after the incident.

The NYPD said that 12 of the 14 victims were pulled to safety by the time they arrived, and that NYPD divers found the woman and child and transported them to the hospital, where they later died.