BRANSON, Mo. (AP) _ The Latest on the deadly sinking of a duck boat in a
southern Missouri lake (all times local):
3:21pm
An investigation of a tourist boat accident on a Missouri
lake that claimed 17 lives will look at whether operators of the boat violated
Coast Guard-issued limitations by venturing into the water as thunderstorms
threatened and struck the region.
The Ride the Ducks in Branson tour on Thursday occurred as the area was under
a severe thunderstorm warning. A storm that moved through the area generated
near-hurricane strength winds.
U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Tasha Sadowicz says the boat that sank passed an annual
inspection in February. But Sadowicz says the “certificate of inspection” places
limitations on when boats can enter the water, based on wind speed and the
height of waves.
Sadowicz says investigators want to know whether the boat violated the
limitations, and whether operators were adequately monitoring the weather.
11:30 a.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the National Transportation Safety Board will take
custody of the duck boat that capsized in Missouri now that it’s been raised
from Table Rock Lake.
U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Scott Stoermer spoke to reporters after the boat was
raised Monday morning. Seventeen people were killed Thursday when the boat sank
amid a thunderstorm that generated near-hurricane strength winds.
Stoermer says it took until Monday to remove the boat from the lake because
that’s how much time was needed to amass the necessary equipment.
Stoermer says the boat was photographed underwater before being brought to the
surface. He said he could not discuss specifics of the boat’s condition.
Nine of the people who died belonged to one Indiana family. Others killed came
from Missouri, Arkansas and Illinois.
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11 a.m.
The website for a tour company whose boat capsized in Missouri says the
business is offering to pay for medical and funeral expenses for those aboard.
Thirty-one people were on the amphibious duck boat when it capsized Thursday
evening on choppy waters during a storm. Seventeen died. The National
Transportation Safety Board and other agencies are investigating.
The website for Ride the Ducks Branson says the company is offering to pay for
all related medical bills and funeral expenses, to return all personal items
from the rescue scene, and to help with any related travel or accommodations
that families need. The company also says it’s providing grief counseling for
its own employees.
The page says the company’s leaders remain deeply saddened, but the company
cannot comment further on orders from the NTSB.
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10:40 a.m.
A duck boat that sank in southern Missouri, killing 17 people aboard, has been
raised.
Live broadcast footage from KYTV showed a crane that is attached to a barge
pulling the Ride the Ducks boat from Table Rock Lake on Monday morning. A boat
pushed it toward the shore.
The boat sank Thursday night in churning waves near the tourist town of
Branson. The victims were from Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri. The
boat was submerged in 80 feet (24 meters) of water.
The National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Coast Guard are investigating
what caused the boat to sink.
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10:35 p.m.
Funeral services are set for Wednesday for two Arkansas victims of a duck boat
accident in a Missouri lake.
Osceola Church of Christ posted on Facebook that funerals for 15-year-old Lance
Smith and 53-year-old Steve Smith will be held Wednesday afternoon. Visitation
services will also be held Tuesday evening and Wednesday afternoon at the church
in Osceola, which is about 175 miles (280 kilometers) northeast of Little Rock.
The father and son were among 17 people killed when their tour boat capsized on
Table Rock Lake near Branson, Missouri, on Thursday. Steve Smith’s daughter
14-year-old daughter, Loren Smith, was also on the boat, but survived.
Other victims were from Missouri, Indiana and Illinois.
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10:30 a.m.
Funerals are set for Friday for four of nine Indiana family members who died
when a tourist boat sank in a Missouri lake.
The Indianapolis church services will honor the husband and three children of
Tia Coleman. She and her 13-year-old nephew were the only members of their
family who boarded the duck boat to survive Thursday’s sinking. The Colemans
were among 17 people killed when the duck boat capsized and sank in Table Rock
Lake in Branson during a storm.
Church secretary Lynthia Bruce says a visitation will be held Friday morning at
Grace Apostolic Church followed by funerals for 40-year-old Glenn Coleman,
9-year-old Reece, 7-year-old Evan and 1-year-old Arya.
A vigil for the Colemans is set for Monday evening at a different Indianapolis
church.
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10:10 a.m.
A Missouri law requires boat passengers ages 7 and younger to wear life jackets
whenever they’re on the water, but commercial vessels like the duck boat that
sank in Table Rock Lake are exempt.
Seventeen people, including three ages 7 or younger, died Thursday when one of
the amphibious vehicles sank amid churning waves. The victims were from
Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana and Missouri.
Lt. Tasha Sadowicz of the U.S. Coast Guard says commercial vehicles like duck
boats are required only to have enough flotation devices for all passengers and
crew, and life jackets that fit every child on board.
An investigation into the cause of the duck boat accident is underway but could
take months or longer to complete.
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9:55 a.m.
At least one member died from every family aboard a tourist duck boat that sank
in Missouri last week, except for a family of nine that all survived.
Mandi Keller says her family’s survival is a “complete miracle.” The Kansas
City Star reports that Keller wasn’t aboard the Ride the Ducks boat when it was
swamped during high winds Thursday evening.
Seventeen of the 31 people aboard the duck boat died, including nine of 11
members of another family.
Missouri State Highway Patrol chaplain Steve Martin calls the survival of
Keller’s family “remarkable.” Martin says there is “no explanation” and that
the family is suffering from survivors’ guilt.
Martin says the family all ended up in different places and found safety in
different ways.
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8:30 a.m.
All the people who were hospitalized after a duck boat ferrying tourists sank
in southern Missouri have been released.
Cox Health Center Branson said Sunday night in a tweet that it was “happy to
announce” all seven had been discharged. Fourteen survived the accident.
Seventeen people died when the Ride the Ducks boat went down Thursday night in
Table Rock Lake on the outskirts of Branson after a thunderstorm generated
near-hurricane strength winds.
Among those who were hospitalized was Tia Coleman, whose husband, three
children and five other relatives died. The Indianapolis woman told reporters
Saturday from the lobby of the hospital that she was alone when she came up for
air. She recalled praying “let me get to my babies.”
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8 a.m.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it is planning to raise a duck boat that sank in a
southern Missouri lake during powerful winds, killing 17 people.
The work to recover the Ride the Ducks boat from Table Rock Lake is scheduled
to begin 9 a.m. Monday. The boat went down Thursday night in the Branson area
after a thunderstorm generated near-hurricane strength winds. The boat is
submerged in 80 feet (24 meters) of water.
Divers are expected to swim down to the vessel and connect it to a crane, which
will lift it to the surface.
Divers already have recovered a digital recorder from the boat. The National
Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Coast Guard are hoping the recorder will
assist in their investigation into why the boat sank.
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