USA: Shipwreck killed at least 11 people on Missouri lake

A boat carrying tourists capsized and sunk Thursday on a lake in Missouri (USA) during a violent storm, killing at least 11 people including children, local police said.

The boat was 31 people on board, Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told a news conference. At least five people are missing and seven others were hospitalized as a result of the accident on Table Rock Lake, while the US Midwest is hit by heavy thunderstorms.

Several people managed to return only the shore, he added. Relief operations, interrupted by the night, were to resume Friday morning with the participation of divers to find the missing.

"I've never seen a storm so bad"

Among the wounded, two are in critical condition, according to the local branch of the Cox Medical Center, a private hospital facility located in Missouri.

The amphibious-type boat that can move on land with wheels, was attempting to to regain the shore when strong winds made it capsize. According to the sheriff, another boat that was then sailing on the lake was able to return to safety.

The storm "arrived very quickly" in the late afternoon, said by phone to AFP Rick Kettels, the owner of Lakeside Resort, a resort on the shores of the lake.

"I have lived here most of my life and have never seen such a bad storm" a- he said, adding that the local weather had not warned of his imminence.

"Our heart is really heavy tonight"

He shot a video from the shore, showing big waves falling on the pontoon, before learning that a boat had capsized. "Given the waves, I do not think this boat could have had a chance," he said.

Table Rock Lake, located near the town of Branson, in southern Missouri, the Arkansas border is a popular artificial lake for tourists.

Winds of up to 119 km / h have been recorded, causing falls and power outages in the area, said Steve Lindenberg, meteorologist in Springfield, 72 km north of Branson.

"Our heart is really heavy tonight" said the city of Branson, saying "small in size but big in heart" in a statement. "This is a very trying time for all those involved."

An ongoing investigation

With the help of the Red Cross and city officials, the town hall Branson remained open to welcome the victims and their relatives, relatives and survivors. Branson is a popular holiday destination, with its country and entertainment venues and attractions such as the Dolly Parton's Stampede.

The National Transportation Safety Board was to send a team early Friday to to investigate the accident, announced the US agency.

The company that owned the boat capsized, Ripley Entertainment, had been offering this tour "Ride the Ducks" since last year in this region of the Ozarks

Search and Rescue Operations

In a statement, the company badured that it "would do its utmost to badist the families concerned and the authorities while Search and Rescue ".

Meteorologists say the Missouri storm was part of a series of events Thousands who hit Thursday night a good part of the Midwest. Several tornadoes swept through Iowa, north of Missouri, injuring and damaging buildings with no reported deaths.

On October 2, 2005, 21 people died on Lake George in the New York state in the sinking of a pbadenger boat aboard which was a group of 48 senior tourists, most of them Canadian. The boat, according to witnesses, would have turned in pbading in the wake of a more powerful ship.