Seventeen people were killed in an amphibious boat crash on Table Rock Lake in Missouri on Thursday. The boat turned when a sudden storm hit the area and brought strong winds at speeds close to a hurricane. There were 29 passengers on board and two crew members. The boat's driver is among the dead, but the identification of the victims has not yet been finalized. The last bodies were found only this Friday, 20.
According to state government spokesman Mike Parson, nine of the 17 people who died were from the same family. On Friday, the government confirmed that two people of this family had survived the accident.
According to US Army Corps of Engineers spokeswoman Laurie Driver, the agency has no authority to keep people or boats out of lakes even when bad weather is nearing. She explained that storms tend to happen quickly in the region.
The company's president, Jim Pattison Jr., said the captain had 16 years of experience, adding that his company, Ripley Entertainment, is monitoring weather in the region. He said that the waters were calm and flat when the boat reached the lake.
