At least 13 die when duck boat capsizes in Missouri lake

Branson: At least 13 people, including children, died after a boat carrying tourists capsized and sank on a lake during a thunderstorm in a country music mecca in southwest Missouri, authorities said on Friday.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt Jason Pace said four people remain missing today after the Ride the Ducks boat sank on Table Rock Lake in Branson on Thursday evening.

He said 14 people survived, and that seven of them were injured. Patrol divers found two more bodies early on Friday, raising the death toll from 11 to 13, Pace said.

A spokeswoman for the Cox Medical Center Branson said four adults and three children arrived at the hospital shortly after the incident. Two adults are in critical condition and the others were treated for minor injuries, Brandei Clifton said.

Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader said yesterday that stormy weather likely made the boat capsize. Another duck boat on the lake made it safely back to shore.

Steve Lindenberg, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Springfield, Missouri, said the agency issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Branson area on Thursday evening.

Lindenberg said winds reached speeds of more than 60 mph (100 kph). "It's a warning telling people to take shelter," he said.

Rader said an off-duty sheriff's deputy working security for the boat company helped rescue people after the boat capsized. Dive teams from several law enforcement agencies assisted in the effort.

The National Transportation Safety Board said investigators will arrive on the scene today morning.