The Missouri State Highway Patrol has released its incident reporton the sinking of an amphibious boat that claimed the lives of 17 people Thursday in southwest Missouri.
According to the report, none of the 31 people aboard were wearing a “safety device.” A spokesman for the patrol, Jason Pace, said that term refers to life jackets.
Five of those passengers who perished in the water were age 15 or younger. The majority of people aboard were from out-of-state.
The report says the incident occurred when the vessel entered Table Rock Lake and was overcome by high winds in a thunderstorm, causing the vessel to “swamp” and then sink. The captain of the boat survived.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Table Rock Lake and the surrounding area at 6:32 Thursday evening. Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said the first distress calls came in just over half an hour later.
A salvage crew is scheduled to bring the boat up to the surface Monday, according to the US Coast Guard.
Copyright 2021 KSMU. To see more, visit KSMU. 9(MDA3OTgyNDI4MDEzMTM0MjQzMTZlNDI0Mg004))