Tourist boat sinks in Missouri
July 20, 2018
The death toll from Thursday's Missouri boat disaster has risen to 17 after the bodies of the last four missing passengers were pulled out of Table Rock Lake, KSMU public radio reported.
The radio station cited the Stone County sheriff as saying an investigation has been launched into the capsize of the tourist boat, which had 31 people, including children, on board.
A spokeswoman for Governor Mike Parson said he had spoken to two people who "lost nine out of 11 family members" in the accident.
Authorities said winds of 100 kilometers per hour (62 miles per hour), struck the lake at about 7 p.m. local time (0000 UTC) while two amphibious "duck boats" were in the water.
A second boat was able to make it back to shore.
Fourteen people survived, including seven who were injured when the boat went down, state police said. Several people were hospitalized.
Adults and children died
Authorities said children were among the dead. Although the boat's captain survived the sinking, the driver did not, they said.
A rescue operation involving divers from the Missouri State Highway Patrol was mounted to search for those missing.
A video posted to social media showed the boat, which can travel on land and water, nearly submerged in choppy water.
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Wind carried boat some distance
Authorities said the boat initially went down in 12 meters (40 feet) of water, but the sunken vessel had been located in another part of the lake that is 25 meters deep.
Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Jason Pace told AFP that authorities were now "in the process of making notification to the families."
The capsize took place near Branson, Missouri, a popular Midwestern entertainment hub near the Arkansas state line.
According to reports, the vessel in question was an amphibious DUCW vehicle, originally developed by the US military. The vehicles have been involved in serious incidents around the world in recent decades.
Five college students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus. Thirteen people died in 1999 when a boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
mm/tj (AFP, dpa, AP, Reuters)
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