One person dead and 11 injured after tour boat capsizes in New York cave

Lockport Police said the group was on board the Lockport Cave & Underground tour boat when it capsized on Monday

A tour boat capsized inside a New York cave 20 miles from Niagara Falls, leaving one person dead and eleven others injured.

Authorities in Lockport said during a press conference that the fatal victim appeared to be a 60-year-old man who was trapped underneath the boat and couldn’t get out, according to Spectrum News.

Twenty-eight passengers and one staff member were on board the Lockport Cave & Underground tour boat when it capsized in the cave at around 11.45am on Monday morning.

Multiple agencies were called to the scene to search for the passengers. It took rescuers around an hour to rescue the 28 survivors.

Eleven people are recovering in hospital. The worst injury is believed to be a broken arm.

Law enforcement officials told The Niagara Gazette that a tour group was making its way through the cave when weight seemingly shifted on the boat, causing it to capsize. All of the passengers ended up in the water with the boat on top of them.

According to Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano, sixteen people were rescued by boat after the wall outside the cave was breached.

The rest of the passengers walked out of the cave themselves as the water in the caves is around two to six feet in depth.

People look on during a rescue of passengers on board an New York boat tour (AP)

The individuals on board the boat were all locals participating in a free tour for hospitality workers.

No one was wearing a life jacket at the time of the accident.

Survivors Elizabeth and Dan Morrissette told WKBW about the moment that the boat suddenly overturned throwing everyone on board into the water.

“I went under the water when it fully capsized, but I was on my way back up from being under the water and the boat literally landed on my head,” Elizabeth said.

36 all accounted for after tour boat capsized on Lockport cave tour pic.twitter.com/szdX20rDtZ

— WBEN NewsRadio 930AM (@WBEN) June 12, 2023

“People are climbing on top of the boat to get out of the water because as soon as you hit that water with your chest your air is gone. It knocks the breath right out of you, you have nothing left.”

An investigation into what led up to the boat capsize is now underway.

Lockport Cave is a half-mile-long manmade tunnel created in the 19th century with the original purpose of transporting water from the Erie Canal to the nearby Holly Manufacturing Company to power the plant.

In the 1970s, it was turned into an attraction offering thrilling underground boat rides to tourists.

This is what is looks like right now along the Erie Canal.

City of Lockport Fire Dept. is assisting @WKBW pic.twitter.com/bJPIko4eDy

— Kristen Mirand WKBW (@kristen_mirand) June 12, 2023

Lockport is a city of approximately 21,000 residents in Niagara County, New York, and is located around 20 miles northeast of Buffalo.