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BRANSON – It started with a single flower placed on each car left overnight on the parking lot at Ride the Ducks Branson , the company that owned the amphibious sightseeing boat that made its last fateful trip to Table Rock Lake.
Strong winds and 5-foot waves, which seem to emerge from a peaceful summer evening, capsized the boat on Thursday night, killing 17 people. from 1 to 70 and including nine family members from India iana.
At the end of the night from Friday to Friday, the hoods of the remaining two cars were filled with flowers, with space on the vehicles and on the ground around them to add them to the collection
shared by two of the victims, hundreds gathered to honor and mourn those lost on Thursday night. Fourteen people survived
The majority of those who paid tribute to the silent vigil did not know the victims, but Branson, a popular tourist destination, is a family, and getting together is the reason for it. to be from the city.
Zach Klein, a field technician from the Taney County Sewer District, was at the head of the candlelight vigil and did not personally know people that he honored. But when he had the opportunity to talk, he did not refuse.
He spoke for five minutes to the crowd wiping his tears or holding his loved ones nearby.
"At this moment, we are in a moment of mourning," said Mr. Klein. "We do not know when we will meet our Heavenly Father, be there for those who need you when they need you."
The end of his speech brought prayers and chants: "Amazing Grace" "God bless America."
Avery Schamber, 20, lives nearby and also works at the Belle Branson, near a car. the lot of Ride the Ducks with a small bouquet of flowers, paying homage to those who died.
"They came on vacation and their worst nightmares happened," she said
. d & # 39; Indianapolis. What was to be a happy family celebration ended with the death of nine parents of three generations.
Deaths and identities of family members – including four children under the age of 10 – were confirmed by The Indianapolis Star Friday evening
"They were very beloved," said Ingrid Coleman Douglas at the # 39, a telephone interview
including two uncles, an aunt, cousins and their children. "It's a huge family on all sides, it's unimaginable, I would never have thought that I would have lost so many people this way."
Tia Coleman, one of the survivors, told WXIN-TV in Indianapolis that she and a nephew were among the 11 parents. Coleman says that she lost "all my children" but she did not say how many.
She says the captain of the boat told the passengers, "Do not worry about grabbing the lifejackets – you will not need them." "It was too late," she says, "it was too late."
While a violent thunderstorm was shot down when the boat capsized, causing the 5-foot waves on Table Rock Lake, which caused the boat to fall – while other ships withstood the harsh conditions – is not clear. The teams found the boat sitting on its wheels in 80 feet of water.
A second duck on the lake southwest of Missouri, about 225 miles southwest of St. Louis, 39 km west of St. Louis. made it safely up to the shore. World War II soldiers originally used canoes to transport troops and supplies, and they were later modified for use as passenger vehicles.
The National Transportation Safety Board authorities are investigating the accident. longer before all the answers are found.
The NTSD board member, Early Weener, said that investigators would issue a preliminary report in a month that could provide information on what happened.
Jim Pattison Jr., President of Ripley Entertainment He told the Associated Press that the water was calm and flat when the amphibious vehicle arrived at the lake, but a sudden storm emerged and the 39, transformed into turbulence. "
Pattison says his company is" sad "and" devastated "by the dead The boat driver was among the dead
The ducks, who can travel on land and in the water, were involved in other deadly incidents in the past.Five students were killed in 2015 in Seattle when a duck boat collided with a bus and 13 people died in 1999 when a duck sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
In 2010, a tugboat pilot distracted, On his cellphone or laptop because of a family emergency, struck a barge in a duck boat stalled in the Delaware River, Philadelphia, throwing 35 people into the water.Two Hungarian students died in the incident.
"Ducks are deadly traps," said Andrew Duffy, a lawyer whose Philadelphia law firm has handled litigation related to both x fatal accidents of ducks. "They are not suitable for water or land because they are half car and half boat."
Report by Watkins and Wheeler for Springfield News (MB) Stanglin reported from McLean, Va.
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