Deadly duck boat to be salvaged

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Operations to salvage the deadly duck boat that sank in a Missouri lake in the United States last week, resulting in the deaths of 17 people, were set to resume on Monday.

Described as the deadliest tourist accident in the US in years, the amphibious vessel got caught up in a fierce and sudden storm on Table Rock Lake outside of the tourist destination of Branson on Thursday. It had 31 people on board, but only 14 survived.

The vessel will be taken to a secure facility as part of a federal investigation, said the US Coast Guard, which will oversee the operations.

Seven of the 14 survivors were taken to a local hospital, and all but one had been discharged as of Sunday. That person is in good condition, a spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson hospital said.

Mourners gather in the parking lot of the Ride the Ducks offices in Branson, Missouri, during a candle light vigil, July 20, 2018. /VCG Photo

Two of the World War Two-style amphibious duck boat vehicles were out on the lake and headed back to shore when the storm struck, but only one made it. The dead were aged one to 70 and came from six US states.

Readings near Branson when the boat went down showed winds of up to 73 miles per hour (117 kph), two miles (3.2 km) shy of hurricane force, the US National Transportation Safety Board said on Saturday.

Tia Coleman, who lost nine family members including her husband and three children, told a news conference on Saturday from a Branson hospital that she does not know how she will recover from the loss.

Missouri State Police search the waters of Table Rock Lake after 6 a.m., July 20, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

“Going home is going to be completely difficult. I don’t know how I am going to do it. Since I have had a home, it has always been filled with little feet and laughter,” she said, choking back tears.

Coleman said the boat’s captain, who was among the survivors, pointed out the life jackets but told those aboard there was no need for them.

Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley was in Branson over the weekend talking with investigators. He has said the state is contemplating whether to bring criminal charges.

Jim Pattison, president of Ripley Entertainment, which owns the Branson “Ride The Ducks” tour company, told CBS This Morning on Friday that the strength of the storm was unexpected and the duck boats should not have been on the lake.

More than three dozen people have died in incidents involving duck boats on land and water in the United States over the past two decades.

Source(s): Reuters