Missouri Duck Boat Capsizes Killing At Least 11 People

-


At least 11 people have died after an amphibious "duck boat" carrying tourists sank in stormy weather in the US state of Missouri, police say.

The vessel was carrying about 30 people on Table Rock Lake, a popular tourist attraction near the town of Branson, when it capsized, local media say.

Divers have been searching the lake for about five others who are missing.

Seven people were taken to hospital, two of whom were seriously injured, police said.

Emergency crews said they responded to the incident shortly after 19:00 (00:00 GMT) on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center in Branson, Brandei Clifton, said that four adults and three children had arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident.

It happened as a line of powerful thunderstorms rolled through the American Midwest uprooting trees and downing power lines, resulting in a weather warning.

Video footage shot by a witness on shore showed two duck boats struggling through choppy waters and spray.

One of the boats made it to shore but the other was driven back by the wind and gradually swamped.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said one of his deputies was on board at the time and had helped to rescue some of the passengers.

A BBC map showing the location of Branson, Missouri

Amphibious vehicles are popular with tourists but have been involved in a number of fatal accidents.

In 2016, a woman died when her motorcycle was struck by a duck boat in Boston, leading to a review of the safety laws around amphibious vehicles.

A year earlier, five students were killed and dozens injured when an amphibious vehicle collided with a bus in Seattle.



In 2013, a tour operator in the UK had its tours suspended after one of its amphibious vessels caught fire.

What is a duck boat?

The vehicles used for sightseeing tours, such as the duck boat that sank in Branson, Missouri, are based on a design used during World War Two to transport personnel and supplies over land and water -known as the DUKW.

The DUKW, a six-wheel-drive amphibious truck, was first made in the US in the mid-1940s to deliver people and materials ashore where no port facilities existed.



Some 21,000 DUKWs were produced for use during World War Two. Many served on D-Day and in the Normandy landings, where 40% of supplies that landed on the beaches were carried by DUKWs.

DUKWs remained in service with the British and other armies into the 1970s, and were later adapted for use by tour operators.

BBC

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Imiegba And Children Of Pa Akubo Esuka Celebrate His Enthronement As Ódegbé

-
Image
  By Suleiman Ugbokhe Pa Akubo Yakubu Esuka, the Ódegbé of Imiegba Imiegba Community, Three Ivie Clan in Etsako East local government area was in a celebration mode on Sunday, December 27, 2020, when the indigenes both home and abroad joined the children of Pa Akubo Yakubu Esuka to celebrate his enthronement as the Ódegbé of Imiegba. Pa. Akubo Yakubu Esuka was born to the family of Mr. Esuka and Madam Ogenikho about 104 years ago in Imiegba. In his quest for a better life, he left his birth place, Imiegba, in 1944, with his maternal uncle, Pa Etsekhumhe Ogweli for Minna where he did manial jobs for some time before he left for Kaduna with a single mission: To join the army. But it turned out to be mission impossible as Pa Akubo was not accepted into the army "for reasons I don't know," he says. "I then proceeded to Kano from Kaduna with the hope of securing a job. I was still not able to get a job." As the saying goes, 'no place like home,' Pa Akubo had
Read more

Hon. Benedicta Ebuehi Felicitates With Gov Obaseki On Fifth Anniversary

-
Image
  By Suleiman Ugbokhe His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki, Executive Governor, Edo State The immediate past Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area, Hon. (Princess) Benedicta Ebuehi has congratulated His Excellency, Godwin Obaseki on the occasion of his fifth anniversary as the Executive Governor of Edo state. In a statement personally signed by her and made available to newsmen, Hon. Ebuehi stated that ”It is heartwarming that your coming into office as Executive Governor of Edo state five years ago has transformed the state into a viable tier of government whose policies and programmes have continued to attract admiration and consultancy from your counterparts in other states of the federation." The erstwhile council boss noted that even in the choice of personnel to help drive the policies and programmes of the administration of the 'Heartbeat of the Nation,' Governor Godwin Obaseki has been meticulous, which has resulted in a peaceful, harmonious and seam
Read more

One Year After ... Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi Remains The Toast Of Etsako East People

-
Image
By Suleiman Ugbokhe Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi, Former Executive Chairman, Etsako East Local Government Area It is one year now since Hon. Princess Benedicta Ebuehi left office as the Executive Chairman of Etsako East local government area, a position she stepped into when the then helmsman, Aremiyau Momoh (Mbakwe), under whom she was the vice chairman, was removed from office by the state government two years into the three-year tenure. On assuming office as Executive Chairman, Princess Benedicta left no one in doubt that she was coming into office to serve the people of Etsako East local government area, and not to canonise, imperialise herself as was the case before her. One of the first things she did to demonstrate her people-oriented policy was the purchase and installation of a transformer at Awuyemi (Ward 5), to end years of darkness in that part of Okpella. It is very easy to gloss over this achievement but when the socioeconomic ripple effects of restoring power supply t
Read more