A passenger who survived the tour boat capsizing in New York’s Lockport cave system says he struggled to find air spaces to breathe after being submerged under the boat in the frigid water.
“When I realized what had happened, the boat was above me and I couldn’t find any air pockets or any space to breathe. I was just trying to breathe because I was underwater,” Daniel Morrissette said in an interview with the program ‘ Good Morning America’ by ABC.
One person died in the incident. Like Morrissette, she was trapped under the boat, operated by Lockport Cave Tours. Eleven more people were taken to hospitals, mostly with minor injuries, according to authorities.
Witnesses recounted that after the capsize, people panicked and screamed heartbreakingly as they fell into the water. Emergency authorities calculated that it had a depth of up to six feet (almost two meters).
Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said the boat was carrying about 28 passengers and an operator, and was sailing over the water of the Lockport Caves, a popular tourist attraction in Niagara County. Agents arrived at the site around 11:30 am. There were no children among the crew.
When they found the boat, it was completely upside down and most of the crew were on the boat. Rescuers used an inflatable boat to extricate 16 people, eight of whom were taken to a nearby hospital and treated in the emergency room.
The famous Niagara Falls is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) from these caves. In the tours that are organized on the site, the participants are taken to an underground passage illuminated only by small lights.
Tours in these caves have been organized for 150 years, according to a News 4 report. Quagliano said that there are parts of the tour that can reach depths of up to 8 feet (2.4 meters).
The tunnel where the incident occurred was built in the 19th century to generate power with water from the Erie Canal.
2023-06-13 16:48:00
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