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Passengers and crew aboard an amphibious excursion boat that capsized on Thursday in Missouri killing 17 were aware of the impending bad weather, according to a survivor of the tragedy that has lost nine family members.
Tia Coleman told her local Fox News subsidiary, Fox59 of Indianapolis, in an interview of her hospital bed Friday, told the crew to change the order of his turn, which passes both on land and on a lake, first on the water to avoid the assault.
"There was a warning … the warning people said take them to the water first, before the storm hits," she said.
The Ride the Duck Branson tour boat sank on Thursday night in strong and rough winds attempted to return to the shore on Table Rock Lake, near Branson, in the Ozark Mountains, said the Stone County Sheriff, Doug Rader. Paddlewheel-style paddlewheelers looked helpless as the duck boat struggled through big waves and finally took water on the bow, a video of the incident showed
One of the crew members and a deputy from Stone County on board jumped into the water to help save the survivors, said the sheriff.
There were 31 passengers aboard the boat. Fourteen people survived, half of them wounded, one seriously, according to Sgt. Jason Pace of the Missouri Highway Patrol. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the incident.
The boat's captain survived, the officials said, but was not identified. The pilot of the ship is dead, according to officials.
The first 911 calls arrived at 7:09 pm. On Thursday, the sheriff said, a little more than half an hour after a violent storm warning was issued for the area.
Jim Pattison Jr.
, president and CEO of Ripley Entertainment, owner of the boat, told CNN Friday that the problem occurred quickly. "I understand that when the boat entered the water, it was calm," but the conditions deteriorated significantly when the boat began to return to the coast.
The company did not immediately respond on Saturday.
In a statement Friday, the company said the Ride the Ducks attraction would be closed indefinitely and that the company was doing everything it could to support the families of the survivors.
"This incident deeply touched us," The statement said. "Words can not say how deeply our hearts are breaking and we will continue to do everything we can to help the families who have been involved."
Coleman said the water had been blown away. look calm when the boat entered the lake for the first time. "The water did not seem threatening at first; She said that during the interview, the captain had told people aboard the ship, once they were on the water, that there would not have been any. Normal water.
"I mean, my husband would like me to say this: He would want the world to know that on this boat we were on, the captain had told us not to worry about" So no one caught, because we listened to the captain telling us to sit, "she continued," but by doing that, it was time to grab the lifejackets. to catch them, it was too late, and I think many people could have been spared.
On Friday night, the Stone County Sheriff released a list of the deceased: William Asher, 69, Rosemarie Hamann, 68, Janice Bright, 63, William Bright, 65, and Bob Williams, 73 . The residents of Indiana were Angela Coleman, 45, Arya Coleman, 1, Belinda Coleman, 69, Ervin Coleman, 76, Evan Coleman, 7, Glenn Coleman, 40, Horace Coleman, 70, Maxwell Coleman, 2, and Reece Coleman, 9. Leslie Dennison, 64, from Illinois. Lance Smith, 15, and Steve Smith, 53, came from Arkansas.
Ducks have been involved in a number of fatal accidents over the years. In May 1999, 13 people died in Hamilton Lake, near Hot Springs, Arkansas, when a duck boat took water and sank suddenly. An NTSB report after the accident was poorly maintained and recommended that the boats remove the sails that can trap passengers when a boat sinks.
In July 2010, two people died in the Delaware River off Philadelphia. and was hit by a houseboat. The NTSB found maintenance problems with the duck and criticized the inattention of the barge pilot.
The accident has raised new concerns about the safety of duck-style tourist boats, many of which are modified versions of the time of the Second World War. "I would never let my family go to one of these boats," said Eric Sorensen, small boat design and safety expert and author of the "Sorensens Motorboat Guide".
said the hard peaks put on many boats raises the ship's center of gravity and serves to trap passengers inside when a boat capsizes or sinks. Side windows also reduce evacuation routes for passengers.
He compared the enclosure of these boats with hard – surfaced rescue boats that can withstand the waves and are designed to prevent water from entering the ocean. The spinners on duck-style boats do not "keep the ocean out of the boat, they keep people in," he said.
He also noted that distributing lifejackets to people inside the boats would not necessarily
"I would not have put on a lifejacket," he said. said. "Whatever happens as the boat sinks, it will hold you against the side of the hardtop, you're pinned up there."
-James Oberman contributed to this article.
Write to Joe Barrett at [email protected] and Alejandro Lazo at [email protected]
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