Water Cave Tour Boat Overturns in Upstate New York, Leaving 1 Dead and 11 Injured
A tour boat capsized inside an Erie Canal water cave near Niagara in upstate New York on Monday morning, leaving one person dead and 11 others injured
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A tour boat capsized inside an Erie Canal water cave on Monday morning in upstate New York near Niagara Falls, leaving one person dead and 11 others injured.
The boat, which toured the underground water caves along the Erie Canal in Lockport, New York, contained 29 passengers, mostly comprised of hospitality workers from nearby Niagara. Andrea Czopp, chief operating officer at the area's tourism bureau Destination Niagara USA, told the Associated Press the workers were on the Lockport Cave Tour boat ride as part of a "familiarization tour."
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The incident occurred near the end of the roughly 300-foot tour route, throwing the passengers several feet into the water. While the identity of the deceased was not immediately released, Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano confirmed the fatality during a news conference per The Buffalo News.
“We did have one fatality in the incident," he said. "It is believed for a time that he was initially stuck underneath the capsized boat, and it did take some time to get him recovered and back to a safe location."
According to Quagliano, 11 more people were treated for "minor injuries" at a local hospital. Officials confirmed that the wife of the deceased passenger was also on the boat and was injured in the incident, according to The Buffalo News.
"The name of the deceased passenger is being withheld until notification can be made to the family," added the Lockport Police Department in a press release. 'An investigation of the incident is still ongoing at this time."
During Monday's conference, Lockport Police Chief Steve Abbott added that the boat has a maximum capacity of 40 passengers and was "specially built for that attraction."
"It was built inside that cave," he explained.
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In a statement to The Buffalo News, Czopp said, "Situations like this happen all over the world. Tragic accidents happen. Being an internationally recognized destination, this does sometimes pick up and spread farther and wider across the media than it would maybe somewhere else."
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