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Young newlyweds killed after boat collides with water taxi and sinks in Venice lagoon
By Andrea Margolis
Published September 16, 2026
A pair of young newlyweds were killed in an accident involving a water taxi in Venice just three months after they were married.
Gabriella Querino, 26, and Sean Michieli, 25, were killed Saturday morning in a collision involving a 5-ton water taxi, Jam Press reported.
The couple was in a boat that had departed from Burano, an island in the Venetian Lagoon, about 6 miles northeast of central Venice.
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They had set out to collect bait for Michieli's work as a clam fisherman.
Shortly afterward, the couple's boat collided with the water taxi and sank.
Gabriella Querino, 26, and husband Sean Michieli, 25, were killed in a collision involving a water taxi in Venice. (Jam Press)
Querino was reported missing in the immediate aftermath of the crash, and search efforts were hampered by strong currents and poor visibility.
Her body was eventually recovered from the lagoon.
Michieli was rushed to Venice-Mestre Hospital with severe head and facial injuries and other injuries across his body. He was pronounced brain-dead the next day.
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Querino, originally from Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, moved to Italy about two years ago.
She developed a passion for fishing alongside her husband, who was from Cavallino-Treporti, Italy, according to Jam Press.
A five-ton water taxi collided with the couple's boat, which later sank in the Venetian Lagoon, according to reports. A stock image of a Venetian water taxi is pictured. (Alessandro Levati/Getty Images)
She was working to obtain the necessary license to join her husband in the fishing industry, according to the outlet.
The couple was expecting their first child, Italian newspaper Il Resto del Carlino reported.
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They were married June 8.
Querino's mother, Gisele Elorriaga, told Brazilian media her daughter "was building a life for herself over there, and she was happy," Jam Press reported.
The young newlyweds, who were expecting their first child, were killed just three months after getting married when their boat collided with a water taxi. (Jam Press)
The cause of the collision remains unknown.
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The water taxi driver is under investigation for nautical homicide as authorities work to determine the circumstances surrounding the collision, Italian news outlet Notizie.it reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Venice Public Prosecutor's Office for additional information about the investigation.
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The tragedy comes amid a series of deadly boating incidents around the world in recent weeks.
Venice's waterways serve as transportation routes through the Italian city, where a water taxi was involved in a deadly collision. (Andrea Merola/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Last week, a passenger ferry carrying 47 people sank while traveling between two islands in Vanuatu, leaving at least one person dead and more than 30 others missing.
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Just a few weeks earlier, a ferry carrying 267 passengers and crew capsized off northern Cyprus, killing multiple people.
https://www.foxnews.com/travel/young-newlyweds-killed-boat-collides-water-taxi-sinks-venice-lagoon