Stephen T. Watson
The Buffalo News, N.Y.
(TNS)
Jun. 12—A flat-bottomed wooden boat carrying 29 people on a tour of the Lockport caves abruptly overturned late Monday morning, pitching the passengers into the waters of the dimly lit tunnel.
Emergency crews carved a hole into a wall to gain better access to the cavern as they carried out a tense, hourlong rescue.
But one man pinned in the water died before he could be brought to safety.
Eleven other people were injured, none more seriously than a broken arm.
"We did have one fatality in the incident. 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," Lockport Fire Chief Luca Quagliano said at a news conference at City Hall. "Unfortunately, he had succumbed to his injuries."
Officials would not identify the victim but said he is about 60 years old and lives in the area. His wife was also on the boat and was injured when it flipped.
City officials said this was the first serious incident of its kind since the Lockport Cave & Underground Boat Ride began operations in the mid-1970s.
The tourist attraction will remain closed for the foreseeable future as police and other agencies try to figure out what happened in an incident that garnered international news attention Monday afternoon.
"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," said Andrea Czopp, chief operating officer of Destination Niagara USA.
The 29 people on the boat at the time it capsized, all adults, included 28 hospitality workers from across Niagara County and one tour staffer.
They were part of a tour set up by Destination Niagara USA to show off Lockport attractions to people in the local hospitality industry, Czopp said.
Emergency crews from a host of agencies responded to the incident reported at 11:25 a.m. within the cave complex, located at Gooding Street and the Erie Canal.
It's not clear how long the passengers were on the boat before it collapsed.
The incident occurred near the end of the 300- or 350-foot-long waterway traveled by the boat as part of the underground tour.
"The boat became unbalanced and capsized. All 28 or 29 people were thrown into the water," Quagliano said.
Some people were able to get themselves out of the water, which has a depth of 5 or 6 feet, on their own. About 16 people needed assistance from rescuers, the fire chief said.
The department has a boat that can be inflated at the scene of an incident and firefighters used this craft to help bring passengers out three or four at a time, Quagliano said.
Officials obtained a list of the names of the passengers on the boat tour and began checking it against everyone they had rescued. Eventually, they figured out one man on the tour still was unaccounted for, Quagliano said.
Rescuers determined he was trapped underneath the boat and he died before he could be pulled from the water.
Lockport Police Chief Steve Abbott said one officer required treatment for hypothermia after spending so much time in the water.
He said investigators will be studying the boat, which has a maximum capacity of 40 passengers, as part of the probe into why it flipped over.
"I know that the boat is actually specially built for that attraction," Abbott said. "It was built inside that cave."
Abbott said he didn't know when the boat was last inspected.
None of the passengers was wearing a life jacket but it's not clear whether they are required to do so, Quagliano said.
The boat ride is part of a 75-minute tourist experience that begins with a walking tour of the historic locks along the Erie Canal near downtown Lockport.
The boat tour runs through a dimly lit hydraulic raceway that was built in the 1800s to carry water away from the canal.
Lockport Mayor Michelle Roman said the boat tour started up five decades ago.
"It's been an attraction since the '70s without incident. They are going to do a full and thorough investigation. If it is unsafe, then it will not be running," Roman said.
Abbott said authorities are treating the area where the fatal incident occurred as a crime scene while the investigation into its cause continues.
Representatives from the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration are investigating the incident, along with Lockport Police, State Police, the Niagara County Sheriff's Office and the Niagara County District Attorney's Office.
Abbott said as of Monday afternoon that police hadn't yet been able to interview the passengers. He said the owner of the ride has cooperated with police so far.
Thomas Callahan, identified in previous news reports as a co-owner of the attraction, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
He was listed by the Lockport Mayor's Office as a scheduled attendee at Monday's news conference but he was not seen at the front of the Council Chambers with the other officials who addressed reporters.
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