A 'community legend', a former pastor, a couple celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary, a hero grandmother and NINE people from the same family: The 17 people killed when their duck boat capsized during a severe storm in Missouri
- 17 people lost their lives when a duck boat capsized in a lake in Branson, Missouri on Thursday night
- Boat driver Robert 'Bob' Williams, 73, was one of the 17 people who died on the Ride the Ducks boat
- Nine of the people who died were from the Coleman family from Indianapolis, including four children
- The Coleman family were meant to be on a different boat, but had boarded at the wrong place
- Couple Bill Asher and Rose Hamman were among those killed, as was hero grandmother Leslie Dennison
- Leslie was on the boat with her 12-year-old granddaughter, who says the woman died saving her life
- A church deacon and his recently baptized son, 15, were also killed in the tragic accident
- The mother of a girl who survived says passengers were being 'sucked' back into the lake by the sinking boat
- The boat was carrying 31 people when aggressive storms rolled over the area and thrashed the water
- Passengers on other boats on the water filmed harrowing footage of the boat being overpowered by waves
- The National Weather Service issued a severe storm warning at 6.30pm on Thursday, 30 minutes earlier
A hero grandmother, a 'community legend' football coach and a 15-year-old boy who had been recently baptised are among those who lost their lives on Thursday when their duck boat capsized in the Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, just after 7pm.
Nine of the 17 victims came from one family, with one survivor losing her husband and three children.
Horace 'Butch' Coleman, 70, the family patriarch, was remembered on social media as a 'community legend', who spent more than 40 years volunteering in his local area.
His wife, Belinda Coleman, 69, and his brother, Irving Raymond Coleman, 76, were also killed, as were Belinda's cousins, Angela Coleman, 45, and Glenn Coleman, 40, the IndyStar reported.
Angela's two-year-old son Maxwell died in the tragic accident, as did Glenn's sons Evan, 7, and Reece, 9, and his one-year-old daughter Arya.
Nine members of the Coleman family (From top left: Butch Coleman, Irving Raymond Coleman, Glenn Coleman, Angela Coleman (seen holding Maxwell). From bottom left: Reece Coleman, Belinda Coleman and Evan Coleman), were among the 17 killed in Thursday night's tragedy, as was Robert 'Bob' Williams (right), 73, who was driving the boat when it went down
Glenn's wife Tia survived, and told Fox 59: 'My heart is very heavy'. Her nephew, who has not been named, also survived the ordeal.
Tragically, a woman who met the Coleman family before they boarded revealed they had only been on the doomed boat because they'd gone to the wrong pick-up area.
Tracy Beck, of Kansas City, says she and her family were waiting in line for another boat when the Indiana family stopped talking to have a group picture taken by the tour company.
Beck says the ticket taker realized the Colemans should have boarded at a different location in Branson.
The Colemans had to get new tickets and were put on the boat that eventually sank. Beck said she recognized the family when pictures began circulating Friday.
Tia Coleman (pictured) was one of two survivors from her family, and one of 14 in total. said she had prepared herself to die when she finally began to float back to the surface
Christian church deacon Steve Smith, 53, and his 15-year-old son Lance also drowned when the boat capsized on Thursday.
Smith's daughter, Loren, survived, and his wife Pamela was not on the boat, The Christian Chronicle reported.
Family friend Will Hester asked people to pray for the family in an emotional Facebook post.
'[Lance] was like a son to me, and I will miss him greatly. He was the perfect example of humility and compassion. He cared about everyone,' he wrote.
'My heart breaks, but I know where [Lance and Steve] are, and I know I will see them again.'
Another family friend wrote on Twitter Pamela had decided to go shopping instead of joining her family on board the doomed boat.
Church deacon Steve Smith (left) and his recently baptized 15-year-old son Lance (pictured in last known photo of him, right) were among those killed. Steve's daughter Loren was taken to hospital, but survived
Bill Asher (right) and Rose Hamman (left), were also killed. The couple were on their last night of vacation when they boarded the boat
Bill Asher, 69, and his girlfriend Rose Hamman, 68, were also identified as among the dead by friends on Facebook on Friday afternoon.
Bill and Rose had been on a week-long holiday in Branson, and had spent their last evening away on the duck boat, friend Mary Ogborn Kientzy said.
Neighbor Scott Eaton told FOX Bill and Rose had been away for a 70th birthday.
'They were really looking forward to riding the ducks,' he said.
Family confirmed the death of grandmother Leslie Dennison, 64, who had been on the boat with her 12-year-old granddaughter Alicia, via Facebook. The pair had arrived in town less than an hour earlier.
Her son Todd told the Kansas City Star on Thursday his daughter, who is recovering in hospital, said she could feel Leslie pushing her up as the boat filled with water.
'She said her grandmother saved her,' he told the paper. Leslie is being mourned as a 'true hero'.
Robert 'Bob' Williams, 73, was driving the boat when it went down in Table Rock Lake in Branson.
Williams worked for Ride the Ducks, the boat tour company which owned the vessel, but had previously worked as a pastor. Friends and family paid tribute to him on Friday as a God-fearing family man.
His widow, Judy Williams, told CNN Williams was a selfless and compassionate man, who was friendly to everyone he met.
'He'd talk to anybody. He made an effect on many lives. He would give up his life for somebody,' she said. 'That's the kind of man Robert was, is.'
Bob and Judy were Branson locals and had been married for more than 30 years.
Leslie Dennison (second from left) died saving her 12-year-old granddaughter Alicia. She is being mourned as a hero
William and Janice Bright, aged 65 and 63, had been in Branson celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary on Thursday, the Kansas City Star reported.
The couple have three daughters and 16 grandchildren - their 17th was on the way.
William and Janice Bright, 65 and 64, were among the 17 people killed in the duck boat tragedy. The couple were on holiday celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary when they lost their lives on Thursday
William's sister, Karen Abbott, was devastated when she reached the car park looking for answers.
Describing her brother as her 'best friend in the whole world' and her sister in law as someone she'd 'loved for 47 years', she was torn apart to learn of their deaths - not through police, but through colleagues discussing the accident at work.
'Needless to say, I fell apart because I couldn't reach them on cell phones,' she said.
Through sobs, she told the paper she wanted retribution for her loss.
'[Ride the Ducks Branson] take people on water where no one knows how deep it is, in a vehicle that goes on land and water. They don't make you wear life jackets! It's ridiculous!' she said.
'I think this company should have their ass sued off of them and every penny they made should be returned to every victim that's ever lost their lives in this.'
Tia Coleman was also struggling to find good things to say about the company when she spoke with FOX 58.
She claimed the captain had told passengers on the boat: 'don't worry about grabbing life jackets - you won't need them'.
'When it was time to grab them, it was too late,' she said. 'A lot of people could have been spared.'
DailyMail.com has attempted to contact Ripley's Entertainment for comment on Tia's claims. It is legal to be on a commercial vessel without a life jacket in Missouri.
Pictured: First responders are seen pulling survivors who swam to the surface out of the water
Texas woman Mandi Keller told USA Today her 15-year-old daughter Gillian was one of the lucky few on board who survived.
Gillian had been visiting her father, Keller's ex-husband, when she boarded the Ride the Ducks boat.
Her ex-husband had told her those on the boat were trapped under its canopy as the boat began to sink.
After some time, one of the operators of the boat was able to open the canopy, allowing terrified passengers who were sinking into the lake to swim to freedom.
The man told Keller the boat was sucking people downwards as they tried to swim to the surface.
On Friday, Jim Pattison Jr., the president of Ripley Entertainment which owns the boat, said it should never been on the water in those conditions.
Pictures and video taken from the second duck boat on the lake - which made it back safely - show the vessel being pummeled by waves and heavy rain
'I don't have all the details, but to answer your question, no, it shouldn't have been in the water if, if what happened, happened.
'This business has been operating for 47 years and we've never had an incident like this or anything close to it.
'To the best of our knowledge – and we don't have a lot of information now – but it was a fast-moving storm that came out of basically nowhere is sort of the verbal analysis I've got,' he told CBS news.
He added that 'no one' was expecting such severe weather and said the boat's captain, who survived, had 16 years of experience.
'Usually the lake is very placid and it's not a long tour, they go in and kind of around an island and back. We had other boats in the water earlier and it had been a great, sort of calm experience,' Pattison said.
He added the captain of that particular boat had 16 years of experience with the company, Ride the Ducks.
'You know, they have a very good record. So, again, this seems to be sort of almost a micro storm effect of something that no one was expecting to happen the way that it did,' Pattison said.
Shocking video shows the boat being lashed by strong, massive waves for about five minutes before it became entirely submerged. It was filmed by a passenger on another boat nearby which was more sturdy. Its crew tried to save the duck boat passengers but couldn't
Mourners left flowers on the hoods of cars which belonged to the victims and remain in the parking lot at the lake
More mourners leaving tributes on Friday. The victims have not yet been named and many are believed to have been tourists who were visiting Missouri from other states
One of the messages left on the hood of a car in the parking lot. They were not addressed to victims by name
Groups of mourners gathered to pray together on Friday as emergency teams continued to pull bodies from the water
Harrowing footage taken by others on a different boat nearby showed their small vessel bobbing up and down in the water as water climbed up its sides.
A severe storm warning was issued by local agencies at 6.30pm, 30 minutes before the boat got into trouble.
The tour departs every 30 minutes and costs $26 for an adult ticket. According to a description on a tour website, the boat is only ever on the water for 25 minutes but is an hour long and also traverses land.
The initial death toll on Thursday night was 11. On Friday morning, authorities resumed their search for the six people who were missing and pulled two more bodies from the water.
The boat belonged to local company Ride the Ducks, which run tours of the area on both land and water. File image pictured. The windows were up when the boat capsized. The owner of the company which runs the boat said on Friday it should never have been in the water in such choppy conditions
At a press conference in Branson on Friday, Governor Mike Parson said the reason for the tragedy remained unclear.
President Trump tweeted his sympathies for the families involved on Friday morning
Neither he nor local sheriffs know whether the boat operators checked the weather forecast before taking to the water.
'Needless to say the things that have occurred in the last 24 hours, it is a sad occasion with a lot of families involved,' Governor Parson said.
Passengers and crew on a nearby boat, the Branson Belle, watched from the shore as the smaller boat got into trouble.
Among them was an off-duty sheriff's deputy who leaped into the water to rescue some of the passengers on the duck boat.
The recovery effort resumed on Friday morning and six more bodies were pulled from the water by noon
Search and rescue teams (left) patrol the water as a larger, show boat called the Branson Belle (right) remains docked
A park ranger searches the lake on Friday morning before the last four bodies were found. The death toll is 17
Other passengers and the boat's crew also tried to help while others filmed videos from the windows, helplessly watching as the duck boat went under.
The National Weather Service in Springfield issued this severe thunderstorm warning at 6.32pm, just 30 minutes before the boat got into trouble on the water. It remains unclear if the boat was already on the water by the time it was issued
Jennie Carr was one of them. She captured harrowing footage of waves crashing over the duck boat until it vanished beneath water.
'You could see it (the storm) approaching... We looked to our left and that's when we seen the duck, then we seen another one coming.
'The one that sunk was having trouble, it couldn't go very fast. The waves went over the top of it.
'I videoed it as much as I could for as long as I could until it went round the showboat and that's where it sank,' she told Today on Friday morning.
'First we really didn't realize that it had sunk then when all the crew started running and the captain was giving orders to all the crew to get the life vests and to get out there and help them, we cried a little bit. I went to the window and I prayed and I cried. There wasn't nothing you could do.
'I'm sad and I want to help but I can't help. I don't know what to do. It was really sad that I knew some of these people wouldn't get to go home.'
This was the scene at the lake on Thursday night as the scale of the tragedy became plain
A severe thunderstorm that rolled over the area, causing winds of up to 60mph, is believed to have caused the tragic accident (pictured: divers are on scene looking for more bodies and living passengers)
Emergency services from nearby counties rushed in to help with the rescue. They are shown in the parking lot on Thursday night
National Weather Service meteorologist Steve Linderberg said the winds were likely stronger over the lake, adding: 'There's nothing to slow down winds in an open area'.
Suzanne Smagala, of Ripley Entertainment, which owns Ride the Ducks in Branson, said the company was assisting authorities with the rescue effort.
She added this was the Branson tour's first accident in more than 40 years of operation.
Duck amphibious vehicles have been involved in a number fatal accidents around the world in the past two decades, with some sinking or being swamped or others colliding with vehicles.
The vehicles have been involved in other deadly incidents in the past.
They include one in 2015 in Seattle in which five college students were killed when a boat collided with a bus, and one in 1999 that left 13 dead after a boat sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas.
Safety advocates have sought improvements to the boats since the Arkansas incident. Critics argued that part of the problem is numerous agencies regulate the boats with varying safety requirements.
Pictured: An aerial view of Table Rock lake, where the duck boat capsized
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