Missouri duck boat driver told passengers not to put on life jackets, survivor says
Nine of the 17 dead when boat sank after being overcome by strong winds and waves were relatives of woman, who made claim from hospital bed
An Indiana woman who lost nine members of her family, including her children and husband, when a “duck boat” capsized and sank in Missouri said on television that the captain of the vessel told passengers not to put on life jackets.
Tia Coleman told an Indianapolis television station that she and her nephew were the only survivors from 11 members of their family who were on the amphibious vehicle when it capsized and sank in a storm near Branson, Missouri on Thursday, killing 17 of its 31 passengers.
“I lost all my children, I lost my husband, I lost my mother in law, I lost my father in law, I lost my uncle, I lost my sister in law – she was my sister – and I lost my nephew, I’m OK, but this is really hard,” Coleman told Fox 59 from her hospital bed in Branson.
Coleman said her husband would “want the world to know” that when they were in the water, the captain of the vehicle told them not to put their life jackets on, an action she believed had cost lives.