duck boat tour accident missouri

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Deadly duck boat accident in Missouri

By Veronica Rocha and Brian Ries , CNN

17 confirmed dead in duck boat accident

From CNN's AnneClaire Stapleton

Seventeen people are dead after a duck boat capsized Thursday night in Missouri, Southern Stone County Fire Protection spokesperson Eric Nielsen tells CNN.

The deceased include children, adults and elderly.

The bodies of all the missing people have now been accounted for.

Flowers placed on cars left in Ride the Ducks Branson parking lot

People have left makeshift memorials on the windshields of cars left in the parking lot of the company that ran the duck boat tour.

Four people are still missing.

Branson mayor: "We just jumped in and got involved wherever we were needed" 

Branson Mayor Karen Best said she heard about the capsizing boat within 60 seconds of the incident going across the police scanner.

"We just jumped in and got involved wherever we were needed," she told local media.

The focus right now is on healing the community and family members of the victim’s hearts, not pointing fingers on who is at fault, Best said.

Highway patrol is using sonar to search for bodies

The Missouri highway patrol is using sonar to view the objects on the bottom on the lake.

The divers will confirm objects found by the sonar, US Coast Guard Captain Scott Stoemer told local media outlets.

A severe storm hit the Branson area just before the boat sank

Branson was under a severe thunderstorm warning issued shortly after 6:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. ET), about half an hour before the boat capsized. Jim Pattison Jr., president of the business's parent company, said he didn't know when the boat left the dock.

There were numerous reports of damage throughout the county, including trees down and structural damage, CNN meteorologist Taylor Ward said. The highest wind gust reported in the area was 63 mph.

The weather was part of the same line of storms that spawned numerous destructive tornadoes Thursday in Iowa, Missouri's northern neighbor.

Pattison said he believes the weather was calm when the duck boat went into the water, but things quickly changed.

"Partway through coming back is when ... the waves picked up and then obviously swamped the boat," he said Friday morning.

The company has been in operation for 47 years without any incident like this, he said.

Video shows one of the struggling duck boats before the sinking

Video posted by Jennie Phillips-Hudson Carr, which she recorded from a showboat nearby, showed two duck boats rocking and tilting to the side as the lake's ripples turned into massive waves.

Strong winds whipped waves head-on onto the boats. One of those duck boats returned to shore safely, but the other eventually sank.

"Oh my God, those poor people, oh no!" someone says in the background as the water crashes into the smaller boats.

"If there's kids on there, those poor babies," a female voice says.

Storm sinks duck boat in Missouri, killing 13 people, including children

An duck boat carrying 31 people sank on a southwestern Missouri lake Thursday evening, leaving at least 13 people dead -- including children -- and four others missing, officials said.

The Ride the Ducks Branson duck boat capsized and sank on Table Rock Lake near Branson, a popular family vacation destination about 200 miles southeast of Kansas City, after a storm "came out of nowhere," said Jim Pattison Jr., president of the business's parent company.

Divers resumed a search for the missing Friday morning, but it "doesn't look very good for survival," Missouri Gov. Mike Parson told CNN's "New Day."

"Right now, it's a recovery effort," Parson said.

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Easter Sunday

3 men charged in deadly 2018 Missouri duck boat accident

FILE - In this July 23, 2018 file photo, a duck boat that sank in Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., is raised after it went down the evening of July 19 after a thunderstorm generated near-hurricane strength winds, killing 17 people. A county prosecutor and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed state charges, Friday, July 16, 2021, against three employees of the duck boat tourist attraction in connection with the boat sinking. (Nathan Papes/The Springfield News-Leader via AP)

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A local prosecutor charged a boat captain and two other employees Friday over 17 deaths in July 2018 when a tourist duck boat sank on a Missouri lake during a severe thunderstorm, reviving the threat of long prison sentences seven months after federal charges against them were dismissed.

The total of 63 felony charges were filed in Stone County against the captain, the general manager and the manager on duty the day of the accident for the Ride the Ducks attraction on Table Rock Lake near the tourist mecca of Branson, in southwestern Missouri.

Captain Kenneth Scott McKee, of Verona, general manager Curtis Lanham, of Galena, and manager on duty Charles Baltzell, of Kirbyville, were charged after a federal judge dismissed earlier charges filed by federal prosecutors, concluding they did not have jurisdiction.

Among the dead were nine members of a family from Indianapolis and victims from Missouri, Illinois and Arkansas. Tia Coleman, a member of that Indianapolis family who lost her husband and three children, said in a statement that her “prayers had been answered” with the charges.

“I’m so hopeful that we are one major step closer to justice for all those that perished, and to preventing that what happened to them from ever happening again,” Coleman said.

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, whose office will assist with the prosecution, and County Prosecuting Attorney Matt Selby announced the charges.

“The victims deserve justice,” Schmitt said in a statement.

McKee, 54, faces 29 charges, including 17 charges of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. The 12 additional charges allege that he endangered child passengers on the boat, five of whom died.

The child-endangerment charges filed over deaths are the most serious, punishable by between 10 years and 30 years in prison. The endangerment charges involving children who survived the accident carry a sentence of up to seven years.

An affidavit from a Missouri Highway Patrol sergeant accuses McKee of failing to exercise his duties as a licensed captain by taking his amphibious vehicle onto the lake during a thunderstorm.

“We are reviewing the charges, expect not-guilty pleas will be entered and will continue to vigorously represent Mr. McKee,” J.R. Hobbs and Marilyn B. Keller, who represent the captain, said in a statement.

Baltzell, 79, and Lanham, 39, face 17 charges each of first-degree involuntary manslaughter. They are accused of failing to communicate weather conditions and to cease operations during a severe thunderstorm warning.

Attorneys for Baltzell and Lanham did not immediately respond to a telephone message seeking comment.

Each manslaughter charge alleges that the men “recklessly caused” the death of a passenger. Missouri law calls for a prison sentence of between three years and 10 years for a conviction on that charge.

Thirty-one people were aboard when the duck boat entered the lake. A storm came up suddenly and the waves swamped the boat before it could make it back to shore. Fourteen people survived.

Rides on the lake in modified former World War II vehicles once were a popular draw in the Branson area. Ripley Entertainment, which owned the former World War II vehicle, settled 31 lawsuits related to the accident.

Video and audio from the boat, recovered by divers, showed that the lake was calm when the boat entered the water. But the weather suddenly turned violent. Within minutes, the boat sank.

Highway Patrol Sgt. Mark Green said in his affidavit that McKee failed to exercise his duties and responsibilities by going onto the lake with the boat, Stretch Boat 7, with a severe thunderstorm warning in effect. He said McKee failed to follow policies or training guidelines and failed to have the boat’s passengers put on life vests as it took on water.

Andrew Duffy, an attorney representing Coleman and others who sued over the accident, said McKee “did just about everything wrong” and evidence shows the duck boat’s operators were trying to beat the storm to avoid having to give refunds.

The wind speed at the time of the accident was more than 70 mph (113 kph), just short of hurricane force, according to the National Transportation Safety Board. Weather forecasts had warned of an impending storm with winds possibly exceeding 60 mph (97 kph).

A U.S. Coast Guard certificate of inspection for the boat issued in February 2017 stated that it “shall not be operated waterborne” when winds exceed 35 mph (56 kph) and/or wave heights exceed 2 feet (0.6 meters).

“There is no question that this duck boat tour should have been canceled and the little over $900 refund should have been made,” Duffy said in an interview. “The fact that, that wasn’t done is just outrageous.”

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Missouri Duck Boat Accident Kills 17, Including 9 From Same Family

17 killed in duck boat accident in missouri, a duck boat with 31 people on board capsized and sank to the bottom of table rock lake during a severe thunderstorm on thursday, resulting in one of the deadliest duck boat accidents in american history..

“There was actually a Stone County sheriff’s deputy on the boat. He was in the water rescuing people. There was also some of the staff from Branson Belle, I believe, trying to help rescue.”

By John Eligon ,  Timothy Williams ,  Mitch Smith and Karen Zraick

• July 20, 2018

BRANSON, Mo. — The image from Table Rock Lake that onlookers say they will never forget is the heads, one after another, bobbing in the wild, darkened water.

One would pop up on the surface and then disappear. There were so many of them amid the pounding waves — there one moment, and then gone.

As a boat packed with tourists capsized during a fierce storm in a popular summertime region of southern Missouri, Table Rock Lake was transformed into a desperate struggle for survival. Fishermen and other tourists in passing boats and on docks tried to pull people up, and some tried to administer C.P.R. People raced to throw life jackets out, but the unstopping wind seemed to toss the jackets back.

“It was a nightmare,” said Ron Folsom, a tourist from Fort Smith, Ark., who said he was on a dock along with dozens of other stunned onlookers. With all the wind, he said, “all you could hear was squeals and screams and hollering.”

Seventeen people were killed in the accident on Thursday evening , and seven others, including three children, were taken to hospitals. Officials said that the victims ranged in age from 1 to 76. It was one of the deadliest accidents involving a duck boat — modeled after the amphibious trucks used in World War II to move along land and water — in United States history.

Nine of those who died were members of a family from Indianapolis who had traveled to Branson for their annual road trip, according to Carolyn Coleman, who said two of her brothers-in-law were among the deceased. Two other family members on the boat survived, she said.

Ms. Coleman said the family had rented a van and driven from Indiana to Missouri earlier in the week. She said members of three generations of the family died, including four young children. “We just lost some wonderful people,” Ms. Coleman said.

Around Branson, a showy city that draws throngs of tourists to the Midwest, residents said the storm had come up suddenly on Thursday evening, only a short time after weather officials had issued warnings, and with a shocking ferocity.

“The wind picked up, they gave the storm warning,” said Michael Homan, a resident, “and then massive, straight line winds came out of nowhere.”

As the National Transportation Safety Board and the Coast Guard began investigations, the accident was raising new concerns about the safety of duck boats and about whether tourists should be passengers on them. After 13 people were killed when a duck boat sank in Hot Springs, Ark., in May 1999, the N.T.S.B. had called for sweeping changes to the way such tourist boats operate and are regulated. Once the boats take on too much water, the N.T.S.B. found at the time, they have a hard time staying afloat.

On Thursday evening, storms swept through the Midwest. Tornadoes damaged communities in Iowa. And in Branson, as a storm arrived, two duck boats were on Table Rock Lake, and both were returning to land at the time of the accident. “The first one made it out, and the second one didn’t,” Sheriff Doug Rader of Stone County said.

The National Weather Service’s office in Springfield, Mo., issued a severe thunderstorm warning at 6:32 p.m. for southern Missouri, including Table Rock Lake, about 35 minutes before the authorities received the first calls about the sinking of the boat. Weather officials said the storm entered the area with wind gusts up to 75 m.p.h., which were followed by heavy rain and lightning.

“We knew there was going to be the potential for severe weather and knew that in advance,” Jeff Raberding, a weather service meteorologist, said.

The boat that sank had life jackets, but the sheriff said he did not know if people were wearing them. Of the 31 people on board, 29 were passengers and two were crew members. The boat’s captain, who had 16 years of experience on the lake, survived and was taken to a hospital, but the authorities said the other crew member, whose job was to drive the vehicle when it moved onto land, died.

Online videos of Branson duck boat tours from recent years show life jackets stowed beneath the roof of the boats, within arm’s reach of an adult. But few if any patrons were wearing them on those trips.

The Coast Guard requires life jackets to be available for each passenger on a boat, including duck boats, but allows the crew to decide when to instruct passengers to put them on.

Jim Pattison Jr., the president of Ripley Entertainment, which acquired the Ride the Ducks attraction in Branson last year, said the boats were always stocked with life jackets, but that people were not required to wear them. The weather was calm when the boat left the dock on Thursday. Mr. Pattison said this was the first such accident at Ride the Ducks, which was started more than 40 years ago.

In an interview, Mr. Pattison said the company had policies in place to keep boats off the water during dangerous weather, but he was unsure of the exact threshold for aborting a tour. “I was told that it was calm” when the boat went out on the water, Mr. Pattison said. He said the boats typically spend 15 to 20 minutes in the water on a circular route through Table Rock Lake.

“This is a real tragedy, and we can’t say enough about how devastated we are,” Mr. Pattison said. “It’s hard to think about.”

Duck boats are modeled after DUKWs, which brought materials ashore during the invasion of Normandy and hauled howitzers during the landings in Iwo Jima. In the decades since, duck vehicles have been used to transport tourists in places like Philadelphia, the Wisconsin Dells and Branson.

Such boats have had mixed safety records over the years, both on water and land. In Philadelphia in 2010, a duck boat that stalled in the Delaware River was struck by a barge being towed by a tugboat, killing two people. On land, pedestrians and a motorist were killed in recent years in accidents involving the vehicles in Philadelphia and Boston. In 2015, a duck boat collided with a bus in Seattle, killing five people.

Critics say duck boats have avoided tougher safety requirements, in part because oversight for them is divided among various entities, including the Coast Guard, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the various state and city governments where the boats operate.

Before Thursday’s accident, the deadliest event involving a duck boat was the 1999 accident in Arkansas, when the Miss Majestic sank to the bottom of Lake Hamilton. The N.T.S.B. cited inadequate maintenance as the cause and ordered duck boat operators nationwide, including the company in Branson, to outfit their vessels with additional flotation devices to help prevent sinking.

The victims on the Miss Majestic drowned after they became trapped beneath the boat’s heavy canopy as the vessel took on water and eventually sank in 60 feet of water, the N.T.S.B. found.

The N.T.S.B. investigation found that the United States Coast Guard had failed to follow its own rules regulating the vessels. The agency’s report said that the Coast Guard had generally displayed a “lack of adequate oversight” and that its inspection of the vessel had been “inadequate and cursory.”

The likely reason for that sinking, according to the N.T.S.B., was that the vessel’s owner, Land and Lakes Tours, had failed to maintain the boat. The safety board also found that duck boats converted for passenger service lacked adequate buoyancy to stay afloat once they began to flood.

It issued a stern warning to operators of duck boats to fix the problem: “Without delay, alter your amphibious passenger vessels to provide reserve buoyance through passive means, such as watertight compartmentalization, built-in flotation, or equivalent measures, so that they will remain afloat and upright in the event of flooding, even when carrying a full complement of passengers and crew.”

It is not clear whether duck boat operators complied, and the Coast Guard, which regulates duck boats, did not respond to calls seeking comment.

In Branson, 70-minute rides take visitors past notable sights along city streets before plunging into Table Rock Lake. The rides are popular with children, who receive yellow duck whistles that make a quacking noise, and have long been a fixture of Branson itineraries, along with the Dolly Parton’s Stampede dinner show and roller coasters at the Silver Dollar City amusement park.

According to an archived version of the tour company’s website, the duck boats include “modern safety equipment” and “patented safety features that no other DUKW-style vehicle has.”

“So, relax and enjoy this unique experience,” the website said.

On Thursday, Curt Elleman, a tourist from Overland Park, Kan., was walking along the shoreline of the lake when the weather turned stormy. He saw two duck boats making their way through the waves. One began sinking.

“It started taking on water on the right rear,” he said. “And it just kept getting heavier and heavier.”

Panicked, people tried to help. Someone on a private pontoon boat pulled up a lifeless body, and raced to shore.

“It’s tragic and horrific to watch something like that,” Mr. Elleman said. “When you’re standing on land and something’s happening in the water, there’s not a lot that you can do.”

Around a bend in the lake, dock hands at a nearby marina rushed into the stormy waters after their manager said people needed help.

Todd Lawrence, 20, donned a life vest and hopped into a 24-foot tritoon with three other workers, and they set off on water that was rougher than he had ever experienced on Table Rock Lake, which he has boated since he was a toddler growing up in Branson. What he found around the bend in the lake was grim. He and his colleagues pulled an unconscious man from the water and tried to revive him. None of the people he or his co-workers pulled into boats were wearing life jackets.

“I don’t want to say 100 percent, but it’s really hard to drown with a life jacket,” he said, pausing as he stared silently at the ground.

John Eligon reported from Branson, Mo.; Timothy Williams and Mitch Smith from Chicago; and Karen Zraick from New York. Jacey Fortin, Julia Jacobs, Matthew Haag, Susan C. Beachy, Gabe Cohn and Matt Stevens contributed reporting from New York. Alain Delaquérière contributed research.

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9 members of one family among 17 killed in duck boat accident on lake in Branson, Missouri

BRANSON, Mo. — A duck boat accident on Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, killed 17 people Thursday night, including the boat’s driver and nine members of an Indiana family, according to authorities. Fourteen other people were injured.

Read more trending news>>> 

Update 12:50 p.m. EDT July 22:  The 17 people killed in the duck boat accident have all been identified,  according to The Associated Press . They are:

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Indiana family members 45-year-old Angela Coleman, 1-year-old Arya Coleman, 69-year-old Belinda Coleman, 76-year-old Ervin Coleman, 7-year-old Evan Coleman, 40-year-old Glenn Coleman, 70-year-old Horace Coleman, 2-year-old Maxwell Coleman, and 9-year-old Reece Coleman.

Missouri natives 69-year-old William Asher, 68-year-old Rosemarie Hamann, 63-year-old Janice Bright, 65-year-old William Bright, and 73-year-old Bob Williams.

Arkansas natives 53-year-old Steve Smith and 15-year-old Lance Smith.

Illinois native Leslie Dennison, 64.

Update 8:45 a.m. EDT July 21:  The Stone County coroner  confirmed to KSDK  that William Asher, 69, and his girlfriend, Rose Hamann, were among those killed in Thursday night's duck boat accident in Missouri.

The news station reported that the couple lived in St. Louis County, Missouri. They were visiting Branson to celebrate Hamann's birthday, which was on Monday,  according KSDK .

Todd Dennison's mother, 64-year-old Leslie Dennison, was also killed in the boat accident,  the Kansas City Star reported . In an emotional and brief interview Friday, Todd Dennison told the newspaper that his mother was visiting Branson with his 12-year-old daughter, Alicia, and that they were together for less than an hour before they boarded the duck boat.

He  told the Star  that while in the hospital on Thursday night, his daughter told him that she could feel her grandmother pushing her upward from below while the boat was sinking. "She said her grandmother saved her," Todd Dennison  told the Star .

Update 1:30 a.m. EDT July 21:  Authorities have identified more victims in the duck boat accident.

Steve Smith and his teenage son, Lance Smith, from Osceola, Arkansas, were among those killed in the crash.

Steve Smith was a pastor and Lance Smith was preparing to open his own church in less than a week,  according to CNN,  first reported by  The Christian Chronicle .

Steve Smith’s daughter, Loren Smith, suffered a concussion during the accident but survived.

Smith’s wife, Pam Smith, opted to stay behind and was not on the boat.

#BREAKING : 2 Arkansans died on the duck boat in Branson. According to church members’s Facebook posts, Steve Smith and Lance Smith, 15, are from Osceola. This is a picture of Lance at the pulpit that’s circulating on social media. pic.twitter.com/WYUkHckUvm — Stephanie Sharp (@stephmsharp) July 21, 2018

William and Janice Bright from Higginsville, Missouri, near Kansas City, were also identified as victims in the crash.

WDAF reports  that the couple had three children, 16 grandchildren and had been married for 45 years.

"My great nieces and nephews now have no grandparents," Karen Abbott, William Bright's sister,  told WDAF .

Update 11:00 p.m. EDT July 20:  A summer vacation ended in tragedy for nine members of an Indiana family, along with eight other tourists, killed when a duck boat capsized Thursday evening on a lake in Branson, Missouri.

The Coleman family had traveled to Branson for their annual road trip,  according to The New York Times , which interviewed Carolyn Coleman.

Coleman said she lost two of her brothers-in-law and that three generations of the family died in the accident, including four young children,  the Times reported .

"We just lost some wonderful people," she said.

The Indianapolis Star reported  that the four children killed in the accident were all under the age of 10.

"They were very loved," Ingrid Coleman Douglas said  in a telephone interview with the Star .

Coleman Douglas said the victims included two of her uncles, cousins and their children.

"It's a huge family on all sides. It's unimaginable. I would never have thought I would have lost this number of people this way," she said.

Members of the Coleman family. (Gary Coleman)

Coleman Douglas identified the victims as her uncles Horace "Butch" Coleman and Irving Raymond Coleman; Horace Coleman's wife, Belinda Coleman; her cousins, Angela Coleman and Glenn Coleman; Angela's 2-year-old son Maxwell; Glenn's two sons Evan and Reece; and his 1-year-old daughter, Arya.

Glenn's wife, Tia Coleman, and Angela's older son, whose name has not been released, survived the accident,  the Star reported .

Update 5:15 p.m. EDT July 20:  Stone County authorities now say all 17 of the victims in the duck boat accident have been accounted for and that nine of the victims were from the same family, according to Gov. Mike Parson's office. Two members of the family, identified by local news outlets as the Coleman family, survived. Officials said the victims range in age from 1 to 70 years old.

This is the Coleman family. Only two family members remain after the duck boat they were on capsized in Branson Missouri. pic.twitter.com/OjRQLhbGPE — Alexis McAdams ABC-7 (@AlexisMcAdamsTV) July 20, 2018

Meantime, mourners are putting flowers on the victims’ cars in the Ride the Ducks parking lot, and the community of Branson, Missouri, is holding several candlelight vigils Friday night in memory of those killed.

One of the vigils is scheduled at Table Rock Lake where the accident happened, according to KY3-TV.

RETWEET: Mourners plan 3 candlelight vigils Friday night for victims of Ride the Ducks tragedy: https://t.co/q7m9IEGQf6 — KY3 News (@kytv) July 20, 2018

Update 4:30 p.m. EDT, July 20: Family and friends are mourning the staggering loss of life on Table Rock Lake on Thursday evening.

One woman lost nine members of her family, USA Today reported, citing Gov. Mike Parson's office.

9 members of one family died in the Branson duck boat accident, according to the Missouri governor's office https://t.co/nawQ3xKyt1 — USA TODAY (@USATODAY) July 20, 2018

Update 2:20 p.m. EDT July 20:  Branson Mayor Karen Best  told The Associated Press that Bob Williams, the man who was driving the Ride the Ducks boat that sunk Thursday in a southwest Missouri lake, was a "great ambassador for Branson" who "was at every event."

Seventeen people died, including Williams, and 14 others were injured Thursday when the duck boat capsized in Table Rock Lake, according to authorities.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said earlier Friday that the boat's captain survived.

In a statement posted on Facebook, employees of Ride the Ducks Branson said the business would be closed "while we support the investigation, and to allow time to grieve for the families and the community."

"This incident has deeply affected all of us. Words cannot convey how profoundly our hearts are breaking," the statement said. "Thank you for your support, and we ask that your thoughts and prayers be with the families during this time."

Update 11:40 a.m. EDT July 20:  Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said Friday morning that authorities recovered four more bodies after a duck boat capsized in southwest Missouri,  KSMU reported , bringing the death toll from Thursday's incident to 17.

Update from Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader at 10:19 AM: the last four bodies have been recovered by divers from Table Rock Lake near Branson, bringing the death toll to 17. This concludes the search, and now the investigation begins. pic.twitter.com/q1pEKlfNTi — ksmu (@ksmu) July 20, 2018

Rader said 14 people were taken to hospitals after the incident. He said the driver of the Ride the Ducks boat died. The captain survived.

Update 11:20 a.m. EDT July 20:  Nearly two decades ago, the National Transportation Safety Board issued a warning about boats with overhead canopies like the one that sank Thursday on Table Rock Lake after a deadly accident claimed 13 lives in Arkansas,  according to the Kansas City Star .

Federal agency warned about danger of duck boat canopies before Table Rock tragedy https://t.co/FyPIJypKVK — The Kansas City Star (@KCStar) July 20, 2018

The Miss Majestic duck boat was carrying 21 passengers when it sank in 1999 in Lake Hamilton,  the Star reported . Authorities found seven dead passengers trapped inside the boat when they recovered it, four of which were pinned to the underside of the canopy,  according to the Star .

"Contributing to the high loss of life was a continuous canopy roof that entrapped passengers within the sinking vehicle,"  NTSB officials said in an accident report .

Authorities continued searching Friday for four people who are presumed dead after Thursday's accident in southwest Missouri. Officials said 13 other people have been confirmed dead in the incident.

Update 10:25 a.m. EDT July 20:  Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said divers are going back in the water Friday in search of four people who remain missing and are presumed dead after Thursday's duck boat accident on Table Rock Lake.

Rader said the search had shifted to "recovery mode for the bodies that are still missing," at a news conference Friday morning.

"It's been a long night," Rader said. "It's been a very trying night."

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader says 13 are dead. The boat has been located but not yet removed from water. Investigation continues. pic.twitter.com/VwIGSwStbU — Ian Cummings (@Ian__Cummings) July 20, 2018

Rader said the driver of the Ride the Ducks boat died but that the captain survived.

Update 10:05 a.m. EDT July 20:  Authorities are expected to provide an update on the investigation into Thursday's deadly duck boat accident in Missouri at a news conference Friday.

LIVE UPDATE: News conference with the latest information about the deadly duck boat crash is scheduled to start at 9:00 AM. The death toll is 13, meanwhile crews continue to search for four missing people. Posted by KY3 on Friday, July 20, 2018

Update 9:55 a.m. EDT July 20: President Donald Trump shared sympathies Friday to the families and friends of the people involved in Thursday's deadly duck boat accident in southwest Missouri.

"Such a tragedy, such a great loss," the president wrote Friday in a tweet. "May God be with you all!"

My deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those involved in the terrible boat accident which just took place in Missouri. Such a tragedy, such a great loss. May God be with you all! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 20, 2018

Update 8:15 a.m. EDT July 20:  Officials with the State Highway Patrol said Friday that two more bodies have been found after Thursday's duck boat accident in southwest Missouri, bringing the death toll to 13.

>> On AJC.com: Bahamas boating tragedy brings vacation safety to the forefront

State Highway Patrol Sgt. Jason Pace said four other people remained missing.

BREAKING: State Highway Patrol says two more bodies have been found in a Missouri duck boat accident, taking the death toll to 13. — The Associated Press (@AP) July 20, 2018

Original report:  Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said 14 people were taken to hospitals after the incident. Seven were being treated early Friday, he said.

The boat capsized after a strong line of thunderstorms moved through the area around 7 p.m. Thursday. Rader said weather "was a factor" in the incident.

Authorities said the boat had 31 people on board, including children, when it capsized.

The boat had life jackets on board,  according to CNN . The news network reported that other boats on the water docked before the bad weather hit.

If you have video or photos of the July 19, amphibious vehicle accident on Table Rock Lake near Branson, MO, or if you witnessed the accident, please contact the NTSB via email at [email protected] — NTSB_Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) July 20, 2018

Emergency responders work at Table Rock Lake after a deadly boat accident in Branson, Missouri. Officials said a tourist boat has apparently capsized on the lake. At least 8 people are confirmed dead.

The National Transportation Safety Board has sent a team to investigate and are asking anyone who witnessed the accident to come forward.

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 to area hospital. Divers on scene. Staging at Branson Belle Dock. However the Branson Belle (Vessel) is not involved - their crew has provided assistance. More info to follow. 8:20pm PIO E. Nielsen - updated to reflect the assistance of Branson Belle Crew while adding clarification the vessel was not / is not involved Posted by THE SOUTHERN STONE COUNTY FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT on Thursday, July 19, 2018

A dive team and rescue officials worked through the night to find survivors.

They ended the search around 11 p.m.,  according to KY3 .

Rescue crews work at the scene of a deadly boat accident at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Mo., Thursday, July 19, 2018.

Emergency responders set up a staging area overnight on the lakeshore near the Showboat Branson Belle, local media reported, although the Belle was not involved in the accident.

Branson officials opened an emergency shelter inside city hall for the victims.

The City of Branson has opened City Hall for some of the families involved in the boat incident on Table Rock Lake.... Posted by City of Branson Government on  Thursday, July 19, 2018

National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Linderberg said a top wind speed of 63 mph was measured around 7 p.m. Thursday at Branson Airport.

"There's nothing to slow down winds in an open area," he said.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson is watching the developments.

Very sad to hear about this horrible accident - prayers for all those involved and the first responders who are assisting. https://t.co/PQ56zagc0s — Governor Mike Parson (@GovParsonMO) July 20, 2018

DUKW, known as duck boats, are six-wheel-drive amphibious vehicles that were used by the U.S. military during World War II and the Korean War.

Since then, duck boat tours have become popular and are offered on lakes and rivers around the United States, including Missouri, Wisconsin, Massachusetts and Alabama.

MORE: Stone County Sheriff says a deputy was on the duck boat that capsized tonight at Table Rock Lake. He was helping to rescue victims during the incident. — Rob Edwards (@RobertDEdwards) July 20, 2018

Ripley Entertainment acquired the Ride The Ducks in Branson in late 2017 from Ride the Ducks International, a subsidiary of Norcross, Georgia-based Herschend Family Entertainment Corp.

Ride the Ducks International manufactures amphibious vehicles and licenses them for tours at affiliates. It also operates duck tours at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia. The company formerly operated tours in several other cities, including Baltimore, San Francisco and Philadelphia. But in recent years it ended operations following deadly accidents.

In 2015, a Ride the Ducks tour bus  collided with a charter bus carrying student on the Aurora bridge in Seattle.

Five students were killed and several others injured.

A charter bus, left, and an amphibious Ride the Ducks tour vehicle collided on the Aurora Bridge in downtown Seattle on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015.

The Associated Press and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution contributed to this report.

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NTSB: Missouri Duck Boat Sinking That Killed 17 Could Have Been Avoided

Scott Neuman

A duck boat sits idle in the parking lot of Ride the Ducks, an amphibious tour operator in Branson, Mo., in July 2018. The company has since closed. Charlie Riedel/AP hide caption

A duck boat sits idle in the parking lot of Ride the Ducks, an amphibious tour operator in Branson, Mo., in July 2018. The company has since closed.

The 2018 sinking of a duck boat on Missouri's Table Rock Lake that killed 17 people would likely not have occurred if the U.S. Coast Guard had acted on recommendations made after a similar tragedy more than two decades ago, NTSB investigators said Tuesday.

During a teleconferenced meeting of the National Transportation Safety Board ahead of the release of the agency's final report on the accident, investigator Brian Young also said the accident could have been avoided if the operator of the Ride the Ducks attraction had heeded weather warnings of an impending derecho .

9 Of Those Killed In Duck Boat Capsizing Were Related

"On the day of the accident, the National Weather Service accurately forecasted and issued timely notifications of a severe thunderstorm that would impact the accident location," an abstract of the yet-unpublished final report concluded. "Ride the Ducks did not effectively use all available weather information to monitor the approaching severe weather and assess the risk it posed to its waterborne operations."

About 35 minutes after leaving the dock near the resort town of Branson on July 19, 2018, Stretch Duck 7, a modified World War II-era landing craft known as a DUKW, was seen struggling to make headway through steep waves as it took on water. Of the 31 people aboard, 16 passengers — including nine from the same family — and one of the two crew members aboard drowned.

The National Weather Service has said that winds reached 65 mph on the lake at the time of the accident.

The boat's captain, Kenneth Scott McKee, survived the accident. He was indicted in November 2018 on 17 counts of misconduct, negligence and inattention to duty by a ship's officer. More charges were added to McKee's indictment in June of last year, when two other employees of Ride the Ducks of Branson — its general manager at the time of the accident, Curtis P. Lanham, and operations supervisor, Charles V. Baltzell — were also charged with negligence.

Duck Boat Tour's Final Minutes Chronicled In Preliminary NTSB Report

At the NTSB teleconference, investigators reiterated that failing to implement all 22 recommendations the agency made after a previous duck boat sank in Arkansas in 1999 , killing 13 people, contributed to the 2018 accident. All but nine of them were ignored, including a key recommendation to add "reserve buoyancy" to the boats, allowing them to stay afloat after taking on water. Among other problems with the design of the vessels, the NTSB said they had insufficient "freeboard" — clearance between the deck and the waterline.

"NTSB investigators found that the accident vessel was originally constructed with a low freeboard, an open hull, and no subdivision or flotation, resulting in a design without adequate reserve buoyancy. Additionally, the NTSB cited previous inaction to address emergency egress on amphibious passenger vessels with fixed canopies which impeded passenger escape from the Stretch Duck 7," investigators concluded.

The NTSB released an April 15 letter it received from Daniel Abel, vice admiral of the Coast Guard, in which the service agreed that canopies and side curtains should be removed from the boats.

NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said duck boats should not be allowed to operate until the agency's recommendations are implemented. As of last year, more than a dozen duck boat tours were operating across the U.S. from California to Maine.

Sumwalt said he was "very optimistic" the Coast Guard was committed to improving small passenger boat safety.

Ripley Entertainment, which operated the now defunct Ride the Ducks of Branson, has settled 31 lawsuits filed by survivors or relatives of those who died, according to The Associated Press.

"We remain dedicated to working with the community of Branson, and continuing our support of all those who were impacted by the accident," company spokeswoman Suzanne Smagala-Potts said.

A look back at past deadly duck tour incidents

From a 1999 accident on an Arkansas lake to a 2016 crash in Boston.

Families are gathering in Branson, Missouri, to mourn the deaths of 17 people -- including children -- who were killed when a tourist duck boat capsized in a lake during severe thunderstorms Thursday night.

The crash in Table Rock Lake isn't the first time a duck boat tour has turned deadly. From a 1999 accident on an Arkansas lake to a 2016 crash in Boston, here are some previous fatal accidents involving duck boats in the United States:

1999: Arkansas

Thirteen people were killed when a duck boat with 21 people on board sank on Lake Hamilton in Hot Springs, Arkansas, in 1999, the National Transportation Safety Board said.

The boat was about 7 minutes into its tour when it sank by its stern and plunged 60 feet to the bottom of the lake, the NTSB said. Seven passengers and the operator escaped.

The NTSB determined the cause of the accident to be inadequate maintenance of the vessel, which was built by the U.S. Army in 1944.

(MORE: 13 dead, including children in Missouri duck boat accident)

(more: how the missouri duck boat capsize unfolded amid weather warnings), 2010: philadelphia.

A tugboat-guided barge hit a duck tour boat on the Delaware River in 2010, killing Szaboolcs Prem and Doran Schwendtner, two Hungarian students who were visiting the U.S., ABC station WPVI in Philadelphia reported.

The tugboat pilot, Matthew Devlin, had been talking on his cellphone at the time and was sentenced to one year in prison, WPVI reported.

2015: Philadelphia

Elizabeth Karnicki, a tourist from Texas, was walking in Philadelphia during the evening rush hour when she was hit and killed by a duck boat in May 2015, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Karnicki's husband argued duck boats have large blind spots causing the drivers to not see pedestrians; he sued the company and the case was settled, The Kansas City Star reported.

2015: Seattle

Five college students were killed and many others were injured in a duck boat crash in Seattle in September 2015.

The boat was driving on Aurora Bridge when the axle broke, causing the driver to lose control and collide with a bus carrying college students, The Associated Press said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Ride the Ducks International violated the law by not telling regulators of a safety defect in the duck boats' front axle and by not issuing a recall, the AP reported.

Ride the Ducks International agreed to pay penalties, calling it "an unprecedented failure," the AP reported in 2016.

2016: Boston

Allison Warmuth was riding a scooter in Boston when she was hit and killed by a duck tour boat in 2016, according to ABC affiliate WCVB in Boston.

After the crash, duck boats in the city added second workers to all its tours, reported WCVB. The boats also added new equipment including an extra camera to the tours and banned drivers from narrating during the rides, WCVB said.

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• Duck Boat Accident

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Just Ducky Tours Owner Addresses Concerns After Missouri Duck Boat Tragedy

July 20, 2018 / 6:46 PM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) -- The country-and-western tourist town of Branson, Missouri, mourned Friday for more than a dozen sightseers who were killed when a duck boat capsized and sank in stormy weather in the deadliest such accident in almost two decades.

Divers found four more bodies in Table Rock Lake, bringing the death toll to 17, including nine people from the same family and the crew member who was driving the amphibious boat. In their initial assessment, authorities blamed thunderstorms and winds that approached hurricane strength. A full investigation was underway.

"Branson is a city full of smiles," Mayor Karen Best said. "We have so much fun here. But today we are grieving and crying."

In Pittsburgh, the tragedy was on the minds of passengers at Just Ducky Tours in Station Square. The boats are a familiar site, operating in the city for 21 years, with two million served. On a busy day they transport up to 1,600 passengers.

Jordan Carter and wife, Marcia Avila, visiting from San Francisco, booked a trip on one of the vehicles as part of their trip. But they had questions after the boat capsized outside Branson.

"Why wasn't there any life jackets? Was there any? Do you have any?" Avila said.

KDKA's Pam Surano Reports:

Just Ducky Tours co-owner/operator Christopher D'Addario was on hand to answer safety questions and weather concerns.

"We are always in possession of really good information, the quickness of the river flow, the height of the rivers," he said.

D'Addario, also a captain, explained the process his fleet of eight duck boats operates under in the port of Pittsburgh. Working closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and Army Corps. of Engineers, they constantly maintain communication about weather.

"That's a determining factor daily for us to monitor what's happening now on our waterways," he said.

Even though the fleet rides the three rivers, and not the deeper waters of a lake, the duck boats are always 250 feet from the banks, and a captain and first mate are both always on board.

They say safety vests do not need to be worn, but they're on board.

"And those vests are out and visible. One for every child and adult on board," D'Addario said.

Thirty adult, 30 child and even two infant vests are aboard every vessel.

Pittsburgh's fleet was among the first in the U.S., and are among the original built military Army Ducks used during World War I and World War II. It remains to be seen if the newer generation of duck boats are similar in name only, and not in might and seaworthiness.

Back in Missouri, the risk of heavy weather was apparent hours before the boat left shore.

The weather service station in Springfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of Branson, issued a severe thunderstorm watch for its immediate area Thursday, saying conditions were ripe for winds of 70 mph. It followed up at 6:32 p.m. with a severe thunderstorm warning for three counties that included Branson and the lake. The warning mentioned both locations. The boat went down about 40 minutes later, shortly after 7 p.m.

"When we issue a warning, it means take action," meteorologist Kelsey Angle said.

Suzanne Smagala with Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities. She said this was the company's only accident in more than 40 years of operation.

The boat was carrying 29 passengers and two crew members on a pleasure cruise, and everyone aboard had been accounted for by midday Friday. Seven of the 14 survivors were hurt when the vessel went down. At least two were hospitalized in critical condition. The captain survived, authorities said.

Authorities had not publicly identified the dead but said they included a 1-year-old child.

"Duck boats are death traps," said Andrew Duffy, an attorney whose Philadelphia law firm handled litigation related to two fatal duck boat accidents there. "They're not fit for water or land because they are half car and half boat. In water, they take on water easily, they sink easily. Once they sink, there is a canopy fixed to the top that, unlike other boats in the world, pulls the passengers with it towards the bottom of the lake."

Divers quickly located the vessel, which came to rest on its wheels on the lakebed, and authorities planned to recover it later Friday.

The boat sank in 40 feet (12 meters) of water and then rolled on its wheels into a deeper area with 80 feet (25 meters) of water. Investigators had no information about whether passengers were wearing life jackets or whether they were stowed onboard, the sheriff said.

The Coast Guard and the National Transportation Safety Board planned to help with the investigation.

Branson, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Kansas City, is a country-themed tourist mecca built on a reputation for patriotic and religious-themed shows in numerous theaters.

Table Rock Lake, east of Branson, was created in the late 1950s when the Corps of Army Engineers built a dam across the White River to provide hydroelectric power to the Ozarks.

(TM and © Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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