Nine family members among 17 dead in US boat tragedy
CHICAGO: Nine members of one family were among 17 people killed when a tourist boat capsized during a sudden storm on a Missouri lake, relatives told the media on Friday, with accusations they were told there’d be no need for life jackets.
The accident occurred on Thursday in full view of witnesses, at least one of whom captured a video of the amphibious vessel bobbing in rough waters on Table Rock Lake near the city of Branson here, a popular holiday destination.
“My heart is very heavy. Out of 11 of us there’s only two that’s surviving, that’s me and my nephew,” Tia Coleman, her voice breaking, told Fox59 from her hospital bed.
“I lost all of my children. I lost my husband. I lost my mother-inlaw and my father-in-law,” along with other relatives, she told the Indianapolis TV station.
Coleman said the boat’s captain had told passengers earlier in their trip that they “won’t need” life jackets.
“He said it when we were in the water. When it was time to grab them, it was too late and I believe that a lot of people could have been spared,” she told Fox59.
She said the water “didn’t look ominous at the very first”.
The New York Times quoted another relative, Carolyn Coleman, as saying three generations of the Indianapolis family, including four children, had died.
They rented a van and travelled to Branson for their annual road trip, she told the newspaper.
Police said 31 people were aboard the vessel, known as a duck boat for its wheels that allow it to ride on land and float low on the water. The boat was seen struggling to reach shore against strong winds, before succumbing to the waves.
The dead ranged from 1 to 70 years old, and included the boat’s driver.
He was one of two crew members, US media reported. The other, who survived, was in charge when the craft owned by Ripley Entertainment company took to the water.
Several people were injured. The incident occurred during heavy winds as a storm moved over the man-made lake in southern Missouri. The duck boat was one of two in the water at the time but the other safely reached shore.