11 dead, others missing after boat capsizes on Table Rock Lake in stormy weather

[mystery-ak]

 11 dead, others missing after boat capsizes on Table Rock Lake in stormy weather

    From staff and wire reports 50 min ago

UPDATED with search under way on Friday

NEAR BRANSON, Mo. • At least 11 people were killed and five others were missing after a tourist boat capsized on Table Rock Lake as a powerful storm moved through on Thursday night, Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said.

The sheriff also said at a late-night press conference that seven people were taken by ambulance from the scene where the Ride the Ducks boat sank but that only one had serious injuries.

However, a spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults are in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said.

The search resumed as dawn broke on Friday. Authorities planned a morning news conference about the accident.

At an earlier press briefing, Rader said the tourist boat “capsized and sank.” He said the boat remained underwater late Thursday night.

more w/video
https://www.stltoday.com/news/local/state-and-regional/eight-dead-others-missing-after-boat-capsizes-on-table-rock/article_0e45c854-00d4-5553-b208-118f290a26ab.html

[goatprairie]

This is really weird. The wife and I and some grandkids were just on a duck boat at the Wisconsin Dells last week. Had a great time.
 But one time a large speed boat passed by creating a large wake.
The pilot of our boat didn't turn the boat into the swells at the right time, and our boat rocked side to side for a while.
I can see that in much more turbulent waters how those boats could capsize.

[mystery-ak]

This is really weird. The wife and I and some grandkids were just on a duck boat at the Wisconsin Dells last week. Had a great time.
 But one time a large speed boat passed by creating a large wake.
The pilot of our boat didn't turn the boat into the swells at the right time, and our boat rocked side to side for a while.
I can see that in much more turbulent waters how those boats could capsize.

Ha...I was just at the Dells the end of June..took all the kiddos.

I have done the Ducks many times at the Dells and even the one at Branson...was the weather bad before they left on the tour?

[mountaineer]

Oh my. Some friends and I rented a motorboat and putted around Table Rock Lake many years ago. I wonder if this was the same storm system that so devastated Pella, IA.

[Victoria33]

@mystery-ak

As chief scientist with oil companies, Bob has been on most oceans of the world making seismographs of the earth under the water.  One time, his boat was in a hurricane on the ocean and the captain told him to get his men in life jackets as he thought the boat was going down.  They made it to shore with everything on the boat washed overboard, the captain area on top was washed overboard, lifeboats were washed overboard, communications were gone.

He saw the film of this duck boat rolling with the waves before it went under and said the captain should have taken the boat to shore immediately when the weather warning came out.  He said you don't mess with weather on water, you get out.

[txradioguy]

Death toll is up to 13.  They are about to hold a press conference about the accident last night.

[dfwgator]

Were these storms forecasted?

[Cyber Liberty]

Ha...I was just at the Dells the end of June..took all the kiddos.

I have done the Ducks many times at the Dells and even the one at Branson...was the weather bad before they left on the tour?

I understand it was a "pop-up" storm...came out of nowhere.  I also heard this morning they increased the count to 13 dead.   

[mystery-ak]

@mystery-ak

As chief scientist with oil companies, Bob has been on most oceans of the world making seismographs of the earth under the water.  One time, his boat was in a hurricane on the ocean and the captain told him to get his men in life jackets as he thought the boat was going down.  They made it to shore with everything on the boat washed overboard, the captain area on top was washed overboard, lifeboats were washed overboard, communications were gone.

He saw the film of this duck boat rolling with the waves before it went under and said the captain should have taken the boat to shore immediately when the weather warning came out.  He said you don't mess with weather on water, you get out.

Most of these *captains* are college kids working a summer job...Branson and The Dells [as well as other tourist sites I am sure] hire from other countries...When we checked into the Kalahari in the Dells I could not understand a word the clerk said...when we went to eat at the Paul Bunyon's restaurant our waitress was from Sweden...

From what I have seen on the Ducks there are life jackets...but in this case it was too late..wearing them should be mandatory...

[Free Vulcan]

Death toll from Missouri duck boat accident climbs to 17

BRANSON, Mo. — Divers found four more bodies Friday in a Missouri lake where a duck boat packed with tourists capsized and sank in high winds, bringing the death toll to 17 in the country-and-western town of Branson, authorities said.

Investigators blamed stormy weather for the accident Thursday evening on Table Rock Lake. Winds at the time were blowing as hard as 65 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

http://www.thehawkeye.com/zz/news/20180720/death-toll-from-missouri-duck-boat-accident-climbs-to-17

----------

Apparently the water was calm when they started out and the storm came up fast.

[mountaineer]

... Sgt. Jason Pace of the Highway Patrol said the victims ranged from children, possibly as young as 1 year old, to elderly.

The boat — an amphibious passenger vehicle known as a duck boat — had carried 31 people in all. Fourteen people survived; seven of those were injured, and one of the seven had serious injuries, Pace said. The boat captain survived.

Authorities weren't saying if the boat's windows were closed at the time, possibly trapping people inside, as videos of the boat suggest. They also wouldn't say if anyone on board was wearing a life jacket. The Coast Guard said passengers must have access to life jackets — but there is no requirement they wear them.   ...

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

[truth_seeker]

Water safety requires a life jacket for every passenger. The operator is very negligent, if everybody doesn't wear it at all times on board.

But I have been on boats many times, and not worn mine.

Weak or non-swimmers go overboard, and are gone  inseconds/minutes.

This is a tragedy and I hope better practices are imposed on operators.

[LadyLiberty]

I read one report that said there was e!even on board from the same family and nine of them perished. 

[Applewood]

There are Ducky Tours in Pittsburgh -- using refurbished amphibious vehicles from  Word War II.  I took one of these Ducky tours.  Don't recall having to wear a life vest while on water.  I do recall the tour guide saying that in bad weather, the tour operator will not put the vehicle into the water.  In some really bad weather, the tour won't operate at all.

Aa terrible tragedy indeed.   May those who perished rest in peace.

[endicom]

"Tia Coleman, who lost nine members of her family in the Branson, Missouri duck boat wreck Thursday, said that her loved ones would still be alive if the captain hadn’t told them not to bother with their life jackets."


https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/07/21/survivor-of-the-capsized-missouri-duck-boat-says-captain-told-passengers-not-to-wear-life-jackets/23486739/

[Free Vulcan]

Lost all four of her children, all under the age of 10. Heartbreaking. I mourn for her loss.

[mountaineer]

I wonder if this might be the final straw for the duck tour.

...  The crash in Table Rock Lake isn't the first time a duck boat tour has turned deadly. From a 1999 accident on an Arkansas lake to a 2016 crash in Boston, here are some previous fatal accidents involving duck boats in the United States:

1999: Arkansas ...
2010: Philadelphia  ...
2015: Philadelphia ...
2015: Seattle  ...
2016: Boston  ...

Full story at ABC News

[Night Hides Not]

"Tia Coleman, who lost nine members of her family in the Branson, Missouri duck boat wreck Thursday, said that her loved ones would still be alive if the captain hadn’t told them not to bother with their life jackets."


https://www.aol.com/article/news/2018/07/21/survivor-of-the-capsized-missouri-duck-boat-says-captain-told-passengers-not-to-wear-life-jackets/23486739/

For all of our disagreements, my wife would have insisted we all put on life jackets...and I would have agreed. She can't swim and is uncomfortable around water. I taught our 3 kids to swim when they were pre-k, but we always put on life jackets when we're in a boat on a lake. IMO, it's just common sense.

From all the hours of watching Law and Order, I'd say there's a case to be made of criminally negligent homicide.

[Applewood]

Above I mentioned the duck tours in Pittsburgh.  FWIW here is a local news item -- interview with the owner of the local tour operator, explaining safety precautions and offering possible explanations as to why, so far, the Pittsburgh ducky tour has not had a fatal accident:

https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2018/07/20/just-ducky-tours-missouri-duck-boat-accident-concerns/

Interesting that one possible reason for the safety of the Pittsburgh tours is that these vessels were built for use during WW II.  Perhaps these old vessels are more sturdy than the newer ones?

[Cyber Liberty]

Just came across this on Bookface.  This was not a pop-up storm, it was forecast.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/07/20/the-violent-storm-behind-the-duck-boat-tragedy-was-well-predicted-not-out-of-nowhere/?utm_term=.2f4823ae277b

[mystery-ak]

News
Ticket mix-up led family onto doomed duck boat
https://nypost.com/2018/07/20/duck-boat-tragedy-families-share-stories-of-loss-heroism/



 The Coleman family Facebook

The Colemans cherished their annual family vacation.

Three generations of the Indianapolis family even posed for a group picture in Branson, Mo., moments before they boarded an amphibious boat and tragedy struck on the stormy waters of ­Table Rock Lake.

Nine of the 11 vacationing Colemans were among the 17 killed in the Missouri duck boat tragedy, authorities said Friday.

While snapping the photo, the Colemans realized they had purchased tickets for another boat — one that could have saved their lives, a witness to the incident recalled.

The Coleman family then made the snap decision to get new tickets and board the doomed duck boat that would later sink into the depths of the man-made Ozarks lake.

“My heart is very heavy,” one of the two family survivors, Tia Coleman, told WXIN-TV.

“Out of 11 of us, only two of us surviving — that’s me and my nephew.”

She added: “I lost all my children, my brother-in-law.”

Belinda Coleman, Glenn Coleman, Horace “Butch” Coleman, Irvin Raymond Coleman and Angela Coleman, all adults, and children Evan Coleman, Reece Coleman, Maxwell Coleman and Arya Coleman, perished, family member Ingrid Coleman Douglas told the Indianapolis Star.

“It’s unimaginable,” she said. “I would never have thought I would have lost this number of people this way,” she told the newspaper.

more at link

[mountaineer]

So heartbreaking for the Coleman family.   

[Applewood]

So sad indeed. 

Lawyers are going to tear the tour operator apart.  Maybe in this instance, it will be justified.  Sounds likea whole lot of negligence.  Wonder if there will be criminal charges too.

[endicom]

News
Ticket mix-up led family onto doomed duck boat
https://nypost.com/2018/07/20/duck-boat-tragedy-families-share-stories-of-loss-heroism/



 The Coleman family Facebook

The Colemans cherished their annual family vacation.

Three generations of the Indianapolis family even posed for a group picture in Branson, Mo., moments before they boarded an amphibious boat and tragedy struck on the stormy waters of ­Table Rock Lake.

Nine of the 11 vacationing Colemans were among the 17 killed in the Missouri duck boat tragedy, authorities said Friday.

While snapping the photo, the Colemans realized they had purchased tickets for another boat — one that could have saved their lives, a witness to the incident recalled.

The Coleman family then made the snap decision to get new tickets and board the doomed duck boat that would later sink into the depths of the man-made Ozarks lake.

“My heart is very heavy,” one of the two family survivors, Tia Coleman, told WXIN-TV.

“Out of 11 of us, only two of us surviving — that’s me and my nephew.”

She added: “I lost all my children, my brother-in-law.”

Belinda Coleman, Glenn Coleman, Horace “Butch” Coleman, Irvin Raymond Coleman and Angela Coleman, all adults, and children Evan Coleman, Reece Coleman, Maxwell Coleman and Arya Coleman, perished, family member Ingrid Coleman Douglas told the Indianapolis Star.

“It’s unimaginable,” she said. “I would never have thought I would have lost this number of people this way,” she told the newspaper.

more at link

It is unimaginable.

Three generations close enough to vacation together and it ends there.

[truth_seeker]

Very very sad, and very preventable.