Seventeen dead after tourist boat capsizes in Missouri lake

The incident on Table Rock Lake that occurred Thursday as thunderstorms rumbled through the area claimed the lives of 17 people, including children.

Nine of the dead were from one family, it has now been revealed.

Thirty-one people were aboard the amphibious vessel – known as a duck boat for its wheels that allow it to ride on land in addition to floating low on the water – when it went down.

The dead included nine of the 11 Coleman family members on the boat, four of whom were children and five adults. The victims spanned across three generations.

The other fatalities were a father and son, two couples, a grandmother whose granddaughter survived, and the boat’s driver.

16 of the 17 that perished in the tragic accident. Image: AFP/YouTube

The incident was caused by heavy winds and the tour boat had been trying to make its way to land when tragedy struck. Two boats had been on the water, one of which returned safely.

The man-made lake is a popular tourist draw located in southern Missouri near the city of Branson, on the border with Arkansas.

Rick Kettels, who owns the Lakeside Resort on the shores of Table Rock Lake, said the storm appeared to come out of nowhere.

“It just came up real quick,” he told AFP, saying the storm struck around 6:15 pm local time.

“I’ve been here most of my life and I never saw a storm this bad,” he added, saying he had not seen a warning from local weather stations.

When the storm seemed imminent, Kettels rushed to the lake to urge guests and boats to evacuate as rough waves began slamming into his resort pier.

Steve Lindenberg, a meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri some 72 kilometres north of Branson, said a string of severe thunderstorms had barrelled through the area, causing significant tree damage and downed power lines.

At that office, meteorologists had clocked winds at 119 kilometres per hour, issuing a warning to the area at approximately 6:30 pm.

The Branson airport had experienced a peak gust of 63 miles per hour, Lindenberg said.

“Our hearts are heavy tonight,” the City of Branson said in a statement. “This is a very trying time for all those who are involved.”

“The City of Branson may be small in size but it is big at its heart”

Branson’s City Hall was open to victims, family membors and survivors, with support from the Red Cross as well as city officials.

The National Transportation Safety Board was to send a team early Friday to investigate the incident, the US agency said.

Branson, Missouri is a vacation destination popular for its theaters and country music, including singer Dolly Parton’s Civil War-themed attraction.

The company who owns the capsized boat, Ripley Entertainment, added Branson’s “Ride the Ducks” attraction to its roster last year.

“Ride the Ducks” is a seasonal tour through the area’s famed Ozarks region.

The incident in Missouri was part of a storm system that struck much of the Midwest late Thursday, according to meteorologists.

Several tornadoes tore through the state of Iowa just north of Missouri, causing injuries as well as structural damage to a number of buildings. No fatalities had been reported there.

– AFP