11 Drown as Old Tourist Boat Sinks

An amphibious tourist boat sank Saturday, drowning 11 people as panicked passengers scrambled for life preservers and nearby residents rushed to their boats to pluck victims from choppy water on a lake.

The open-air World War II-vintage boat sank quickly on Lake Hamilton near this tourist town. A cloth canopy may have trapped the victims as the wheeled craft went down less than a mile offshore, Mayor Bob Mathis said.

A survivor, Gary Ledin, said there was little time to react.

“You can’t believe how fast that thing sank,” he said. He was on the boat with his wife, Diann, who also survived.

Three children were among the dead, including a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old. Nine of 20 people on board survived, including the boat operator. Two people were hospitalized and remained on life support late Saturday.

The Coast Guard was investigating, and authorities had no explanation at a news conference why the boat took on water. The boat had not been recovered from the lake by late Saturday.

Strong winds made the water rough when the accident occurred on the lake, which is lined by hotels and restaurants.

The wheeled craft, known as a “duck,” was required to carry life preservers but passengers were not required to wear them, City Manager Kent Myers said.

The boat is equipped for both land and water, with three axles, six wheels and the ability to hold 25 or 26 people, including an operator who rides in the front.

“It’s basically a boat hull on wheels,” said Coast Guard Lt. Bruce Fisher, chief of port operations in Memphis, Tenn.

The boat sank in one or two minutes, Myers said. Ledin said it felt more like 30 seconds.

Residents rushed to their boats to assist when they saw the craft going down.

“When people in the nearby condos saw what was happening, they rushed to their boats and went out to help,” said Joe Sexson, director of emergency services for nearby Hot Springs National Park.

A list of the victims was not expected until today.

Hot Springs is about an hour southwest of Little Rock and is popular with boaters and sightseers. After the Oaklawn Park thoroughbred racing season ends in April, visitors flock to several lakes or to Bathhouse Row, the anchor of the national park downtown.

The amphibious boats have rolled and floated through Hot Springs for 40 years, offering their guests scenic views of the century-old bathhouses. The ducks, whose tickets cost $9, ferry visitors among the city’s tourist attractions and to the scenic lakes.

Fisher said the duck that sank was owned by White & Yellow Duck Sightseeing Tours and operated by its subsidiary, Land and Lake Tours Inc.

The vehicles are generally World War II surplus built for the Army to carry troops directly from land into the water, Fisher said.

The boats are inspected by the Coast Guard annually.

Don Bridges, who owns White & Yellow, said his boats are well maintained.