© 2024 | Jefferson Public Radio
Southern Oregon University
1250 Siskiyou Blvd.
Ashland, OR 97520
541.552.6301 | 800.782.6191
a service of Southern Oregon University
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Dive Teams Search Missouri Lake For More Bodies After Tour Boat Capsizes

NOEL KING, HOST:

Two more bodies have been found, raising the death toll to 13 after a duck tour boat capsized and sank last night in a lake near Branson, Mo. Dive teams are searching for four more people who are still missing. Here's Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader at a press conference this morning.

DOUG RADER: It's been a long night, and it's been a very trying night. Please keep all of our families involved and all of our first responder personnel in your thoughts and prayers.

KING: At about 7 in the evening on Table Rock Lake, the duck boat was overtaken by a sudden squall that produced winds reportedly gusting to 80 miles an hour. In a video taken from inside a restaurant nearby, which was posted by the Springfield News-Leader, patrons can be heard watching the tragedy unfold.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Oh, no.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Oh, it's going under.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: It's sinking.

KING: Witnesses said the squall moved in quickly and was like nothing they'd ever seen on the lake. Several miles away, the owners of the Lakeside Resort Restaurant and General Store shot a video. They posted it to Facebook. It showed waves rolling onto docks while boats strained at their lines.

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: Never seen it quite this bad. Boats can't get in. Boats can't get out.

KING: Several people were pulled from the water and sent to the hospital. Rescue divers worked until late in the evening looking for other people. And they resumed their search this morning. Sheriff Rader says the duck boat was carrying 31 passengers when it went down. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.