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Duck boat capsizes in Table Rock Lake, 17 killed

Friday, July 20, 2018

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Duck boat capsizesA damaging thunderstorm quickly roared across the Table Rock Lake near Branson, Mo., that regularly draws crowds to tour boats and languid cruises. It delivered the punishing rain and pummelling winds forecasters had warned. The waves began to churn, rocking a duck boat that had set out with 31 people — 29 passengers and two crew members.

 
The storm was too much for the small boat, which eventually capsized and sank, plunging to the bottom of the lake and killing 17 people, some of them children.

 
“It’s been a long night, been a very trying night,” Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters.

 
Authorities rushed to the area to try to rescue the people thrust into the water, bringing several to hospitals. They had initially said four people were still missing Friday morning, but they warned that the tragedy could grow, as Rader said officials were in “recovery mode for the bodies we’re still missing” rather than continuing search and rescue efforts. A short time later, he confirmed that authorities had found the final four bodies, which meant that more than half of those on board had been killed.

 
Federal investigators also headed to the scene to join state and local officials, with the National Transportation Safety Board dispatching a “Go Team” to the lake to help probe the latest disaster involving the duck boats popular with tourists across the country.

 
The boat that sank wound up about 80 feet down in the water, Rader said. It had landed in about 40 feet of water, he said, before rolling down to a deeper point and ending up resting on its wheels. Authorities expect to recover the boat later Friday.

 
The thunderstorm involved was part of a fast-moving complex that originated in Kansas and unleashed powerful winds all along its path. A severe thunderstorm warning was issued by the National Weather Service at 6:32 p.m., more than half an hour before police were called about the boat capsizing. A severe thunderstorm watch, signaling conditions were favorable for severe thunderstorm development, had been in effect for more than seven hours.

 
“We have a clear line of sight to both across the water,” Zerby said. “I noticed most of the boats had left the water, but there were still at least two or maybe three ducks still near the Belle.”

 
The city of Branson opened its city hall for survivors and relatives of the sinking. Branson set up a command post inside its city hall, offering chaplains, psychologists and Red Cross services to families, Pettit, a city spokeswoman, said.

 
Roger Brallier, who is a duck boat captain for Ride the Ducks Branson, told The Post that all of the captains are “very close.”

 
“Were it not for grace of God, it could’ve been me on the boat,” he said. “All of our hearts are completely broken right now.”

 

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