Woman loses 9 family members in Missouri duck boat tragedy
CHICAGO A woman whose nine family members were among the 17 people killed when a tourist duck boat capsized in a storm on a Missouri lake said on Saturday that she is not sure if there is any way to recover from such a loss.
"Keep us in prayer. We are going to need it," Ms Tia Coleman, who lost her husband, three children and other relatives, told a news conference from a hospital in Branson, Missouri, where she was taken after the incident last Thursday.
The amphibious duck boat was carrying 31 passengers, including children, when a sudden "microburst" storm packing powerful winds hit Table Rock Lake outside Branson, unleashing white-cap waves that swamped the vessel before it sank.
Ms Coleman said she plunged deep into the lake and did not know how she was able to survive.
She thanked people she dubbed "angels" who jumped into the water and helped pull her to safety. Her nephew also survived.
Choking back tears, Ms Coleman talked about the family members she lost, including her two sons and one-year-old daughter Arya.
"She had a thousand personalities wrapped up in her one," Ms Coleman said."Going home is going to be completely difficult. I don't know how I am going to do it."
She added: "Since I have had a home, it has always been filled with little feet and laughter."
Ms Coleman said the boat's captain pointed out the life jackets but told those aboard there was no need for them.
She said that if she could have reached the life jackets, she believes she could have saved her children.
She had nothing to say to the captain, who was among the survivors.
"I don't know if there is a recovery from this," Ms Coleman said. - REUTERS
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now
