“Branson” was trending on Twitter Friday morning for a reason no one would have wanted or anticipated. As a result of a storm on Table Rock Lake, 17 people were killed and seven more were injured.
Live video shows a storm turning the normally placid lake into a howling sea. The storms passed through the area about 7 p.m., and a duck boat with children on board capsized and sank in the waves.
Among the dead was the driver of the Ride the Ducks boat, but the captain and thirteen others managed to survive when the boat sank. Reportedly, winds were blowing as hard as 65 mph.
Jim Pattison Jr., the president the duck boat tour company, told “CBS This Morning” that, given the conditions, the boat should not have been out on the lake.
“I don’t have all the details, but to answer your question, no, it shouldn’t have been in the water if, if what happened, happened,” he told CBS.
The duck boat did have life jackets on board, but apparently Missouri law doe not require that they be worn.