New York boat capsized – : One person dead after tour boat accident during cave tour along the Erie Canal
One person died and eleven others were injured when the boat capsized during Lockport Cave tour
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Your support makes all the difference.A tour boat capsized inside a cave 20 miles from Niagara Falls on Monday morning.
Lockport Police said that passengers were on board the Lockport Cave & Underground tour boat when it overturned around 11.20am. Multiple agencies were called to the scene to search for the passengers in the water.
Mayor Michelle Roman said during a press conference that one person was killed during the accident, according to Spectrum News. The name of the fatal victim was not released but authorities said he was in his 60s and his wife is recovering at hospital.
Twenty-eight passengers and one staff member were on board when the tour boat overturned. 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.
The individuals on board the boat were all locals participating in a free tour for hospitality workers.
Passengers onboard overturned boat were hospitality workers
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.
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.
How deep is the water at Lockport Cave?
According to an NYup.com article, the water is only two to four feet deep.
The passengers onboard the capsized boat were on exploring the caves on a 75-minute tour.
For the first leg of the guided tour, visitors walked along the Erie Canal, which is just a 30-minute drive from Niagara Falls.
Tour boat fully overturned, authorities say
“The boat did a 180-degree turn, so the bottom of the boat was upright in the water,” Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said at a news conference, according to PIX11. “A number of victims were on top of that boat initially when rescuers got to them.”
A man who became trapped under the boat died. His name has not been released
An investigation into what led up to the boat capsize is now underway.
A tour boat capsized inside a cave 20 miles from Niagara Falls on Monday morning.
Lockport Police said that passengers were on board the Lockport Cave & Underground tour boat when it overturned just after 11am.
Multiple agencies were called to the scene to search for the passengers in the water.
Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman said during a press conference on Monday that one person was killed during the accident, according to Spectrum News reporter Brianne Roesser. Twenty passengers and one staff member were on board when the tour boat overturned around 11.20am on Monday.
Survivors speak out after terrifying accident
Elizabeth Morrissette and her husband Dan were among 29 people onboard the tour boat that capsized at Lockport Cave on Monday.
Recounting the terrifying moments just before the boat overturned in an interview with WKBW, Ms Morrissette said she suddenly “jumped into the water” when the boat tipped.
“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 Morrissette said.
“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.”
1 dead after tour boat capsizes in Erie Canal water tunnel cave in Lockport, New York
One person was killed and multiple people were sent to local hospitals after a boat capsized Monday during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, officials said.
Police and fire crews were called to the Lockport Cave Tours, about 20 miles northeast of Niagara Falls, at about 11:30 a.m. The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride illuminated only by small lights.
“The boat did a 180-degree turn, so the bottom of the boat was upright in the water,” Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said at a news conference. “A number of victims were on top of that boat initially when rescuers got to them.”
Passenger were thrown into the water after boat became unbalanced
All 29 people on board the flat-bottom boat were thrown into water between 5 feet and 6 feet deep when the boat apparently became unbalanced and capsized toward the end of the roughly 300-foot tunnel.
Some passengers were able to get to safety on their own. Rescue crews using an inflatable boat rescued about 16 others, he said.
Authorities did not immediately release the name of the man who died. His wife was taken to a hospital, officials said.
“We have had eight of the passengers come into our ER,” said Patricia Brandt, spokeswoman for Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport. “None critical. They’re all stable and some have already been released.”
Some individuals being treated for exposure to the cold cave water
Patricia Brandt, a spokeswoman for Eastern Niagara Hospital in Lockport, said she did not know the nature of the injuries but believed some were treated for cold from being in the water. Other patients went to other hospitals, she said, but did not have details.
Jeremy Swiatowy, 42, watched as rescue workers breached the wall to the cave with a sledgehammer before shimmying through the hole to help rescue the remaining people inside.
Mr Swiatowy said local schoolchildren often take tours at the Lockport, and locals were concerned that children might have been on the boat that sent people into the chilling water.
“The water in the caves is super cold,” he said.
Cave was featured in an episode of Ghost Hunters
Video footage from the scene outside the Lockport Cave office showed one person talking as she was loaded onto an ambulance. Others wrapped in white towels were being escorted to a bus as a steady rain fell.
Photos and videos posted on the Lockport Cave website show small, flat-bottom boats slipping through a rough-hewn tunnel, which was blasted out in the 19th century to transport extra water from the Erie Canal to power nearby businesses.
The tunnel was once the subject of an episode of the Syfy network show Ghost Hunters.
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