A day of fun and camaraderie for a group of hospitality employees turned to tragedy in New York on Monday when a boat capsized while carrying a guide and 28 people during an Erie Canal cave tour near Niagara Falls. One man was killed after becoming trapped beneath the boat and sustaining injuries.
Authorities still haven't confirmed exactly what happened, but we do know a 911 call was made at 11:30 a.m. reporting a boat capsized during an underground cave tour. Run by Lockport Cave, it takes passengers along the Erie Canal in a 75-minute underground tour.
"Part of that tour involves about a 300-foot section, where tourists will get on a small boat, take them down a channel way about 300 feet long, and then they come back and return to where they boarded the boat," Lockport Fire Chief Luca C.P. Quagliano told WKBW.
The boat can hold 49 people and is designed to go through the tunnel easily. However, none of the occupants were wearing life vests.
According to Quagliano, near the end of the cave, the boat "became unbalanced" and tipped over. All of the passengers were tossed into the water.
"Some were able to self-extricate by walking down," he said. EMS and fire personnel also rescued 16 passengers in an inflatable boat, taking three to four people each trip.
"Unfortunately, we did have one fatality in the incident," Quagliano said. The man has remained unidentified but was said to be around 60 years old.
"It was believed for a time that he was initially stuck underneath the capsized boat, and it did take some time to get him recovered and back to a safe location. Unfortunately, he had succumbed to his injuries," Quagliano said.
Eleven other passengers were injured, and one rescuer suffered hypothermia. The injured were taken to local hospitals with various injuries, including a broken arm, slight hypothermia, and a possible head injury, according to authorities.
WKBW spoke with a few of the Lockport Cave tour boat passengers, including husband and wife Elizabeth and Dan Morrissette, who recounted their harrowing experience.
"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 told WKBW.
"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."
The area is currently a crime scene as Lockport police, the National Transportation Safety Board, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and New York State Police all work together to investigate.
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