‘Everything started shaking and the boat started tumbling’: Witness recalls harrowing lead-up to fatal boat crash

The Ontario Courthouse at 361 University Avenue in Toronto is photographed on May 2, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

The trial of Filip Grkovski continued at the University Courthouse in Toronto Thursday, with the testimony of a passenger who became trapped inside a capsized powerboat on May 31, 2022.

Zaynab Altakawee described the hours leading up to the crash on Lake Ontario that would claim the lives of fellow passengers Megan Wu, 24, and Julio Abrantes, 34.

Altakawee described a day of drinking and partying, with Grkovski opening a bottle of champagne soon upon her arrival on his boat.

“I’m pretty sure he even poured it in his mouth first.”

However, the socializing was marred by “aggressive fighting” between Grkovski and his girlfriend Vanessa, Altakawee told the court.

“He’s just wandering and keeping an eye on Vanessa... constantly surveilling her whereabouts, where she is, who she’s talking to.”

As day progressed into night, Altakawee said the fighting became more intense.

“Filip was in a rage up there. His face was really red, and his eyes were just wide and it seemed like when I looked at him he was staring into space.”

Altakawee described intense screaming bouts that would take Grkovski away from the wheel of the boat, leaving another man taking the helm.

“Vanessa was screaming up the stairs at him and then he would go to the top of the stairs to scream back down.”

Right before the crash, Altakawee described having motion sickness and descending a set of stairs to go to the bathroom.

“And then everything started shaking and the boat started tumbling.”

‘Thank God we didn’t drown'

Altakawee said after the pleasure craft struck rocks near Toronto’s Outer Harbour Marina, she would be trapped for 45 minutes inside the overturned boat, along with three other women.

“It was slanted, completely flipped, stuck on a rock,” she detailed. “Thank God we didn’t drown because the rock was able to hold us up so we had air.”

Altakawee said she and the other trapped passengers were screaming and crying and trying to kick out windows, to no avail. Meanwhile, she said Grkovski “just wanted to get Vanessa out and he was swimming from window to window.”

She added, “He was the only one interacting with us. Everyone else was just sitting on the rocks watching.”

The survivor stressed that although Grkovski is alleged to be the driver of the boat, she could not be certain that the 41-year-old was operating the vessel at the time of the crash, because the driver was not visible to her.

The Mississauga, Ont., man is facing two counts of criminal negligence causing death, two counts of criminal negligence causing bodily harm, two counts of impaired driving causing death, and two counts of impaired driving causing bodily harm.