At least 13 people died after the capsizing of a tourist boat during a thunderstorm in Branson, Missouri

BRANSON, MONTH – At least 13 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists capsized and sank on a lake during a storm in a mecca of southwestern country music Missouri, "said the sheriff. Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace claims that four more people are still missing Friday after the accident occurred at Table Rock Lake in Branson on Thursday night. He says 14 others survived, but seven were injured.

Pace says that those who died are between 1 and 70 years old.

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

Rader said the stormy weather probably capsized the boat. Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency had issued a violent storm warning in the Branson area on Thursday night. Lindenberg said the winds reached speeds of over 100 km / h.

"This is a warning telling people to go to the shelter. on the scene where a tourist boat capsized and sank on July 19, 2018 during a violent storm on a lake near Branson, Missouri

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Rader a said a sheriff's badistant boat company helped save people after the boat capsized. Diving teams from several law enforcement agencies helped in this effort

The National Transportation Safety Board announced that investigators would arrive at the scene on Friday morning.

Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, owner of Ride the Ducks in Branson was helping the authorities in the rescue effort. Smagala added that it was the only accident on the Branson tour in more than 40 years of operation.

Branson is about 320 kilometers southeast of Kansas City and is a popular vacation spot for families and tourists alike. . An EF2 tornado that pbaded through downtown Branson in 2012 destroyed dozens of buildings and injured three dozen people, but did not kill anyone.

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

. Critics have argued that part of the problem is that too many agencies regulate boats with varying safety requirements.

Ducks were originally used by the US military during the Second World War to transport troops and supplies. vehicles.