BRANSON, Mo. — Sunday marks two years since an amphibious duck boat capsized on Table Rock Lake, killing 17 people.
On July 19, 2018, a Ride the Ducks tourist boat was overcome by a storm and sank with 31 people aboard. A crew member and 16 passengers drowned.
Nine of them were from the same family. A south St. Louis County couple, Bill Asher and Rose Hamann, were among the victims.
According to a National Transportation Safety Board report, the National Weather Service had issued a severe storm warning with enough notice that the boat could have been stopped from going into the water.
In April of 2020, the U.S. Coast Guard agreed with an NTSB recommendation that canopies and side curtains should be removed from duck boats.
Tia Coleman of Indianapolis lost her husband, three children and five other relatives in the tragedy. On the one-year anniversary of the tragedy, she said that she draws energy from the memory of her family as she continues her fight to ban "dangerous, death trap duck boats like the one that killed my family and the others."
As of April, the boat's owner, Ripley Entertainment, had settled 31 lawsuits filed by survivors or relatives of the victims.
On Sunday, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt released a statement remembering the victims and urged colleagues to support a bill he and Senator Josh Hawley introduced that would make previously-issued NTSB recommendations law.
Here is Blunt's full statement:
“Today we remember the 17 victims who lost their lives in the Duck Boat tragedy at Table Rock Lake, and the loved ones who are missing them every day. We owe it to these families to do everything we can to make sure a tragedy like this one never happens again.
"The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has rightfully called on the U.S. Coast Guard, and owners and operators, to immediately implement safety recommendations for duck boats, including removing canopies. The Coast Guard should follow that action by moving quickly to issue regulations in compliance with NTSB recommendations. Senator Hawley and I have also introduced a bill that would make previously-issued NTSB recommendations federal law. I urge all of our colleagues to support that effort to improve safety and protect lives.”
Here's a look back at 5 On Your Side's reporting on the tragedy: