Newport Beach Man Among the Dead as Swamp Tour Boat Flips

Two Californians -- a man from Newport Beach and a woman from San Francisco -- died over the weekend after an air boat carrying 16 tourists and the operator flipped over in a Louisiana swamp.

Daniele Nanna, 31, of Newport Beach died late Saturday, and Wan Ju Tsai Woo, 50, of San Francisco died Sunday in a hospital in Crown Point, 30 miles south of New Orleans, said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Nyx Cangemi.

Christine Wagner and Jessica Marx, Californians whose hometowns were not available, were treated and released. Another passenger, Shgn Tan Ho, remains in fair condition at Charity Hospital, according to the Jefferson Parish sheriff’s office.

The Coast Guard is interviewing passengers and witnesses.

The boat -- a flat-bottom aluminum craft propelled by a fan at the rear -- tipped over in three feet of water about 100 feet from the shore of Lake Salvador.

Passengers “were strapped with seat belts at the time of the accident. It’s also a swamp, a shallow-water area,” Cangemi said.

Louisiana Swamp Tours offers tourists a look at alligators, Cajun fishing boats, an Indian mound and a Cajun cemetery, according to the company website. Owner Milton Walker said he had not had a boat capsize before.

“We’re not sure how it happened,” he said.

The tour boat was certified by the Coast Guard, operated by a licensed captain and had a certificate of inspection, said Lt. Cmdr. Greg Depinet of the Coast Guard’s Marine Safety office.

The boat operator was tested for drugs and alcohol. No alcohol was found, and the drug test had not been processed by Sunday evening, Depinet said.

The Jefferson Parish coroner’s office said it would determine the cause of the deaths.