Report says that 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.
Crews from multiple agencies are on scene of an MCI “Mass Casualty Incident” “tourist type boat involved” this is on Table Rock Lake, Stone County, Branson Missouri. Taney County assisting. Several patients transported.
Crews from multiple agencies are on scene of an MCI “Mass Casualty Incident” “tourist type boat involved” this is on Table Rock Lake, Stone County, Branson Missouri. Taney County assisting.
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.
Amphibious vehicles are popular with tourists but have been involved in a number of fatal accidents.
Report by BBC says that 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.
