At Least 11 Dead, Others Missing After Tour Boat Sinks In Missouri Lake

Rescue personnel work after an amphibious “duck boat” capsized and sank, at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Mo., Thursday.

Southern Stone County Fire Protection District via Reuters


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Southern Stone County Fire Protection District via Reuters

Rescue personnel work after an amphibious “duck boat” capsized and sank, at Table Rock Lake near Branson, Mo., Thursday.

Southern Stone County Fire Protection District via Reuters

Updated at 4:50 a.m. ET

At least 11 people are dead after an amphibious tourist boat carrying 31 passengers capsized and sank during a severe squall in a lake in southern Missouri, the local sheriff said.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said seven others were hospitalized after the incident at Table Rock Lake near Branson, one of them in serious condition, according to Branson Tri Lake News. The capsize occurred during a storm that produced gusts of 60 to 80 mph.

At 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Rader said 11 people were confirmed dead. He said dive teams were wrapping up for the evening and would resume in the morning. Some of the passengers aboard the duck boat were children, Rader said, but he declined to say if any were among the dead.

Kaitlyn McConnell, a spokeswoman for Cox Branson hospital, where the seven were being treated, said the patients were a mix of adults and children, according to The Springfield News-Leader.

In a video posted on The Springfield News-Leader‘s website, patrons eating dinner at a restaurant on the nearby Showboat Branson Belle watch the tragedy unfold.

The duck boat can be seen struggling to make headway against a train of wind-driven waves. To the gasps of the onlookers, it finally sinks.

The incident reportedly occurred at around 7 p.m. local time.

The National Weather Service reported that a heavy storm paced through the county beginning at about 6:30 p.m., reaching Table Rock Dam at about the time of the accident. The NWS predicted gusts of 60-70 mph.

However, the News-Leader quotes Capt. Jim Pulley, owner of a Sea Tow service on Table Lake, as saying the storm hit with 80 mph winds that produced five-foot waves.

Pulley’s Sea Tow boats were helping with crowd control at the Showboat Branson Belle when the capsize of the duck boat occurred.

A video posted to Facebook from an account belonging to the Lakeside Resort Restaurant on Table Lake shows waves rolling into a dock, with a witness saying “I’ve never seen it this bad. Boats can’t get in, boats can’t get out.”

Rader said an off-duty sheriff’s deputy working security at the Showboat Branson Belle helped rescue some of the passengers, according to the newspaper.

The Associated Press reports that investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were heading to the scene of the accident.

This is a developing story. Some things that get reported by the media will later turn out to be wrong. We will focus on reports from police officials and other authorities, credible news outlets and reporters who are at the scene. We will update as the situation develops.

Article source: https://www.npr.org/2018/07/20/630709585/at-least-8-dead-others-missing-after-tour-boat-sinks-in-missouri-lake?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

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