17 dead after duck boat capsizes on Table Rock Lake

[Dartgod]

This is awful. So sad...


NEAR BRANSON, Mo. -- The Stone County Sheriff confirms eight fatalities involved in a duck boat capsizing on Table Rock Lake Thursday.

Emergency crews responded to the incident shortly after 7 p.m. after a severe line of thunderstorms rolled through the area.

Sheriff Doug Rader reports the boat had 31 people on board. He tells KY3 News four of those have been transported to a hospital. Some of the 31 on board include children. Divers are on the scene searching for more possible victims. The sheriff says he does not know how many on the boat are missing. The sheriff is asking for any family missing someone to go to Branson City Hall. It remains a rescue and recovery mission.


http://www.ky3.com/content/news/Emer...488679201.html

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by Simply Red

damn - what exactly is a duck boat?

I had to google it and they look like something out of a Meatballs movie.

Terrible tragedy though. The video was hard to watch.

[luv]

http://www.ky3.com/content/news/Dive...488720161.html

Divers hunt for 4 after Missouri duck boat sinks, killing 13


BRANSON, Mo. (AP) — Divers are searching Friday for four people still missing after a duck boat packed with tourists capsized in high winds on a southwest Missouri lake, killing at least 13 people.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said 14 people survived, including seven who were injured when the Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson Thursday evening.

Patrol divers found two more bodies early Friday, raising the death toll from 11 to 13, Pace said.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said Thursday that stormy weather likely made the boat capsize. Another duck boat on the lake made it safely back to shore.

Passengers on a nearby boat told ABC's "Good Morning America" that the water became rough as the wind picked up.

"Debris was flying everywhere," Allison Lester said in an interview Friday.

Lester's boyfriend, Trent Behr, said they saw the body of a woman in the water and helped to pull her into the boat. He said he was about to start CPR when an EMT arrived and took over.

A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults are in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said.


Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area Thursday evening. Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph (100 kph).

Capt. Jim Pulley, owner of Sea Tow Table Rock Lake, told the Springfield News-Leader that the winds pushed the duck boat that capsized behind a steamboat that was tied to the dock.

Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the boat capsized. Dive teams from several law enforcement agencies assisted in the effort.

The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will arrive on the scene Friday morning.

President Donald Trump tweeted his condolences Friday, extending his deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those involved.

Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort. Smagala added this was the Branson tour's only accident in more than 40 years of operation.


Branson is about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and other tourists looking for entertainment ranging from theme parks to live music. An EF2 tornado that bounced through downtown Branson in 2012 destroyed dozens of buildings and injured about three dozen people, but killed no one.

Duck boats, which can travel on land and in water, have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past. Five college students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus, and 13 people died in 1999 when a duck boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.

Safety advocates have sought improvements since the Arkansas deaths. Critics argued that part of the problem is that too many agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements.

Duck boats were originally used by the U.S. military in World War II to transport troops and supplies, and later were modified for use as sightseeing vehicles.

[thebrad84]

Originally Posted by Flying High D

Why didn’t they just hammer down to the closet shore?

From my understanding, the boat sank only a 100 yards away from shore and docks. The video going around that shows the boat fighting waves right before it goes under is from a woman seated on the Branson Belle that was docked at the time due to the storm. My guess is the captain was attempting to dock before the storm hit, but got caught up in it right before making it and turned around to fight the winds and waves versus attempting a hard landing at the docks. He likely never imagined the boat would capsize until those last few minutes and was pretty well ****ed at that point. Terrible tragedy all the way around.

[thebrad84]

Originally Posted by Flying High D

Why didn’t they have them put on there life vests during this?

Meant to address in my previous post, but most of the victims likely drowned as a result of being trapped under the metal canopy after the boat sank under water. The passengers would have had no clue the boat was sinking due to no visibility straight ahead (captain seat sits well above passenger seats) where the boat was taking on water and would have only had seconds to react once the boat started going under. Them wearing life jackets would have only contributed to being trapped under the canopy. Their only hope would have been the captain announcing abandon ship in the first few minutes the ship was taking on water in front, but he likely didn't realize the severity until it was too late.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by thebrad84

Meant to address in my previous post, but most of the victims likely drowned as a result of being trapped under the metal canopy after the boat sank under water. The passengers would have had no clue the boat was sinking due to no visibility straight ahead (captain seat sits well above passenger seats) where the boat was taking on water and would have only had seconds to react once the boat started going under. Them wearing life jackets would have only contributed to being trapped under the canopy. Their only hope would have been the captain announcing abandon ship in the first few minutes the ship was taking on water in front, but he likely didn't realize the severity until it was too late.

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like those things are fully enclosed and the people that died, probably died as a result of being trapped inside as it filled up with water. I would imagine that having a life jacket on would have made it more difficult to escape.

[redfan]

Terrible, terrible tragedy. Very sad to hear about this.

[ptlyon]

Irregardless, when the weather starts to get bad the captain should make it mandatory that life jackets are worn.

[Renegade]

I was on the lake less than 1 mile from where that happened. I was off the water 40 minutes before the storm hit. I was watching the clouds and paying attention to the Thunderstorm Warning on the mobile device. There is no way that boat should have been out. It did not come out of nowhere.

I also wonder once those ducks take on water, how hard would it be for the average person to escape through the opening between the seats and the roof.

[Prison Bitch]

One of the worst stories I've read in a long time

We were just at table rock a few weeks ago and talked about taking or boys on it

These stories really piss me off

[luv]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

I was thinking the same thing. It looks like those things are fully enclosed and the people that died, probably died as a result of being trapped inside as it filled up with water. I would imagine that having a life jacket on would have made it more difficult to escape.

I've never been on one, but I thought they had big plastic windows that they can put on. Perhaps they were on but difficult to remove?. I think people could have gotten out. Not sure if my chances would have been any better fighting waves and wind in the water, but I think I'd rather face that than be stuck inside of a vehicle. I'd like to think I would have exited the boat on my own, whether through a window or out the doors, but no telling what I might have actually done. Fear, plus having people, I'm sure, telling you what to do and not do.

[DJJasonp]

Originally Posted by thebrad84

From my understanding, the boat sank only a 100 yards away from shore and docks. The video going around that shows the boat fighting waves right before it goes under is from a woman seated on the Branson Belle that was docked at the time due to the storm. My guess is the captain was attempting to dock before the storm hit, but got caught up in it right before making it and turned around to fight the winds and waves versus attempting a hard landing at the docks. He likely never imagined the boat would capsize until those last few minutes and was pretty well ****ed at that point. Terrible tragedy all the way around.

I realize everyone's physical abilities are different, so not judging (i guess) - but I find it increasingly disturbing that when tragedies strike, people's first instinct is to pull their phone out and start recording.

Just an observation.

Wonder what people did prior to cell phones?

[stumppy]

After watching the cell phone videos I'm surprised more people didn't drown.
It looks like it would be pretty damn hard to get everyone out in an emergency.

[ptlyon]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Wonder what people did prior to cell phones?

Pointed and shouted

[gblowfish]

This same thing happened a couple years ago in Hot Springs, Arkansas on Lake Hamilton. My parents lived down there. They really cram people into those ducks. It's like being in a school bus with three to a seat. And the roof sits pretty low, so there is no easy way to get out, especially if the boat was sinking. Most of these boats are really old too, like 1950's old. When this happened in Hot Springs I don't think weather was a factor. But yeah, you'd think when things started looking rough that the boat captain would make for shore asap to either get tied up to a dock or get to a boat launch. 17 deaths is bad, having kids die is the worst part.

[Molitoth]

Watching that video made my heart sink.