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At least 11 people were killed on Thursday night when a tourist boat capsized in a lake in southern Missouri as powerful thunderstorms crossed the Midwest, authorities said.
The amphibious boat, or duck, overturned at Table Rock Lake Branson, Missouri, at about 7 pm Sheriff Doug Rader, of Stone County, said the duck had sunk to the bottom of the lake and that seven passengers had been taken to the hospital. Two people were in critical condition at Cox Medical Center Branson on Thursday night, said the hospital.
Some of the dead were children, the sheriff said Thursday night, and about five passengers were still missing. "We had several people who managed safely," he added.
He told the local news agency KY3 that there had been 31 people on board.
A sheriff's deputy was on the scene He arrived and he was helping with the rescue, said the sheriff.
There were two ducks on the water during the storm, and both returned to the land. Sheriff Rader said, adding that the boat capsized because of high winds.
The sheriff said that there were lifejackets on the boat that sank, but that he did not know if people were wearing them.
Ripley Entertainment owns the boat, having acquired the Ride the Ducks attraction at Branson last year. Duck boats can float on the water and drive on land.
Suzanne Smagala-Potts, a spokesperson for Ripley Entertainment, said that it was the first time that an accident had occurred at this location. "Our thoughts are first and foremost with families," she said.
Family members of the missing persons who were on the duck were ordered to go to Branson City Hall. Irish Pub in Branson said that duck boat tours are popular with tourists, and she has climbed four times in her decade of life there. She said the tours, which usually last between one hour and 90 minutes, take tourists to land-based destinations like the Ozarks College and then to the lake. "19659002" "It's just very fun, normally," she said. telephone interview. "It's nothing like that, and with them coming out in the storm, I do not necessarily know what it's all about because it's not like we did not know about it." this storm. "
She said that in the four times she went on the ducks were not required to wear lifejackets even though the boat had them on board.
Blackstone said that the accident was the "craziest thing" that had occurred in the area since a tornado hit several years ago.
The episode was the result of a storm system that went through much of the Midwest on Thursday. ] Steve Lindenberg, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Springfield, Mo., about 45 miles north of Branson, said a "line of thunderstorms" shook both areas Thursday night and produced winds of 74 mph He said the winds have cut down trees and power lines,
. Lindenberg said that a wind gust of 63 miles per hour was recorded at Branson airport around 18:55. He said thunderstorms had since left Missouri and were moving into Arkansas.
Rod Donavon, a meteorologist from the National Meteorological Service in the office of the agency. Tornadoes swept Thursday the central part of this state, apparently damaging a warehouse, houses and other structures.
Two tornadoes, in the towns of Pella and Marshalltown, struck about 30 minutes from Mr. Donavon saying that one and the other were particularly destructive. He described them as "strong" but said that the exact force of the winds was not yet clear.
The National Transportation Safety Board has stated that it would investigate the accident.
The Thursday episode was not the first to end
Gabe Cohn contributed to the report.
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