JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Those who knew the victims hurt and killed when their boat smashed into a tugboat on the Intracoastal Waterway were stunned and saddened by the tragedy. On Tuesday, some shared with Channel 4 the memories of their loved ones.

The boating accident happened on Easter Sunday. Five people were killed and nine were injured.

Those who survived will never forget the nightmare that unfolded. Their loved ones said they are trying to cope with the tragedy, but it's something they'll never get over.

Brooke Roblee is friends with all of the local victims involved in the crash and was a former roommate to Melvin Bethel, who owned the boat. She said if she had still been living with Bethel, she too would have been on that boat.

"It's heartbreaking. It truly is tragic to find something like that out -- that all your friends were in a tragic accident," Roblee said. "They were all best friends."

Most of the victims have known each other for years. Justin Moore had his father and brother in town visiting from California. Also from California are Jaimie Hole, Amanda Barton and Olivia Carretero.

Roblee said those who survived told her they were hanging out at the Conch House in St. Augustine, where they met and picked up Jacqueline Allen and Inmaculada Pierce, who they met that afternoon.

The rest in the group, Roblee said, were all a part of a tight-knit group that worked and lived near each other.

In a matter of minutes, Moore not only lost his best friend, Robert Craig, but he also lost his girlfriend, Elisabeth Rosenfeld.

Bethel, Karey Cavicchioli, Brittney Joyce and Jackie Collins were all a part of the group who either met in California or at the beaches in North Florida.

"I feel insanely hurt and sad at what happened, and they were in it and some of them don't even know what happened yet. It's so mind-boggling. You don't ever expect something like to happen to you, ever," Roblee said.

She said Moore and Bethel were the only two who were conscious after the crash. With severe injuries of their own, the two immediately tried to save the others.

"They didn't deserve this at all. They were all good people, very good people," Roblee said.

"I think that they are irreplaceable women, and we will not be the same," said Shirley Learn about her co-workers Allen and Pierce.

She said Allen and Pierce, who went by Macu, worked together at the YMCA in Orange Park. Both women lost their lives in Sunday's crash.

"Macu is the face of the YMCA. You would walk in the door, and she just emanated joy. She had a joy for life and expressed it in everything that she did. Jackie was an amazing woman, very strong and very determined as far as physical health. She was a joy to be around," Learn said.

"I was just shocked," said Beathany Falls, a student in Allen's exercise program called Survival Camp.

She said Allen was supposed to teach a class Monday morning, and the students who showed up didn’t know about the accident until they arrived at the class.

"It's so sad when you see people so vivacious and so full of life -- to see it end so suddenly," Falls said.

Many people in the community echoed her sentiments.

"She was just nice to everybody, very polite, outgoing," said a friend of Rosenfeld, Alex Amsalamb.

Amsalamb was working at The Bridge Restaurant on the ICW when the boat carrying 14 people, including her friend, passed by.

"It's devastating. It could happen to anybody, and really makes you appreciate what you have," Amsalamb said.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission continue to investigate the crash.