BRANSON, Mo. — Eleven people, including at least one child, are dead after an amphibious duck boat capsized on a lake at this tourism hot spot during a severe thunderstorm.
At least five people remain missing, and authorities resumed search and rescue operations Friday now that the sun is up. At least seven other passengers were injured Thursday evening, including one in serious condition.
The Ride the Ducks tourist boat, a hybrid land and water vehicle, sank on Table Rock Lake near the Showboat Branson Belle with a 31 people on board, according to Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader at just after 11 p.m. CT Thursday.
Victims, four adults and three children, were being treated Friday at Cox Medical Center Branson, hospital spokeswoman Kaitlyn McConnell said. Two adults were in critical condition; the others were treated for minor injuries.
► July 19: 11 dead in Branson, Missouri, after tourist boat accident
An off-duty sheriff's deputy was working security at the scene when a line of severe thunderstorms blew through the area between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m., and was able to start rescuing people almost immediately, Rader said. Recovery efforts that included teams of divers continued after dark.
A second duck boat on the lake in southwest Missouri, about 225 miles southwest of St. Louis, made it safely to shore.
The storm hit the lake with 80 mph winds that kicked up waves 5 feet high, said Capt. Jim Pulley, owner of Sea Tow Table Rock Lake.
“Western Taney County has got divers in the water where the duck boat went down,” Pulley said. “The ducks have a ramp access where they put in, and when the wind hit it pushed the boat right square behind the Branson Belle.”
National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning Thursday evening for the Branson area. Meteorologist Steve Lindenberg said a top wind speed of 63 mph was measured at the Branson Airport near 7 p.m. and likely were stronger over the lake.
"There's nothing to slow down winds in an open area," he said.
BRANSON, Mo. — Eleven people, including at least one child, are dead after an amphibious duck boat capsized on a lake at this tourism hot spot during a severe thunderstorm.
At least five people remain missing, and authorities resumed search and rescue operations Friday now that the sun is up. At least seven other passengers were injured Thursday evening, including one in serious condition.
The Ride the Ducks tourist boat, a hybrid land and water vehicle, sank on Table Rock Lake near the Showboat Branson Belle with a 31 people on board, according to Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader at just after 11 p.m. CT Thursday.
Victims, four adults and three children, were being treated Friday at Cox Medical Center Branson, hospital spokeswoman Kaitlyn McConnell said. Two adults were in critical condition; the others were treated for minor injuries.
► July 19: 11 dead in Branson, Missouri, after tourist boat accident
An off-duty sheriff's deputy was working security at the scene when a line of severe thunderstorms blew through the area between 6:15 and 6:30 p.m., and was able to start rescuing people almost immediately, Rader said. Recovery efforts that included teams of divers continued after dark.
A second duck boat on the lake in southwest Missouri, about 225 miles southwest of St. Louis, made it safely to shore.
The storm hit the lake with 80 mph winds that kicked up waves 5 feet high, said Capt. Jim Pulley, owner of Sea Tow Table Rock Lake.
“Western Taney County has got divers in the water where the duck boat went down,” Pulley said. “The ducks have a ramp access where they put in, and when the wind hit it pushed the boat right square behind the Branson Belle.”
National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning Thursday evening for the Branson area. Meteorologist Steve Lindenberg said a top wind speed of 63 mph was measured at the Branson Airport near 7 p.m. and likely were stronger over the lake.
"There's nothing to slow down winds in an open area," he said.
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