One woman died and three more remained missing after a boating accident Saturday night near the Topock 66 and Pirate Cove resorts on the Colorado River between California and Arizona.
The body of Christine Lewis, 51, of Visalia, California, was found in the river about 7:30 a.m. Monday, according to a Facebook post from the Mohave County (Arizona) Sheriff’s Office.
The Arizona Republic newspaper had this recounting of the accident:
A recreational boat carrying 10 people and another vessel with six people on board crashed and sank on the Colorado River on Saturday night, ejecting more than a dozen people who were on board, authorities said Sunday.
Nine people were injured, with two in critical condition, authorities said. […]
Both boats sank, and passing boaters pulled crash victims from the water.
The Mojave County sheriff said all the victims were from outside of the region, and none was wearing life jackets.
Several diving crews and search parties on the banks of the river looked for bodies or survivors Monday.
Authorities will continue the search Tuesday, if needed.
The Topock Marina, near Route 66 in Topock, Arizona, reopened as Topock 66 Spa and Resort in 2013 after a multi-million-dollar renovation. The developer saved a few relics from the old Topock Marina building and collected other memorabilia to show off the region’s connection with Route 66 and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.
Pirate Cove Resort sits on the river south of Needles, California, and off Route 66. It opened in 2011.
(Screen-capture image from video of diving crews going into the Colorado River near Topock, Arizona, to look for boat-accident victims)
Waiting to see if they were running without lights or one anchored in a boat lane or near it
Such a shame that this happens.
Never understood a person not having a life jacket on in a moving boat
As you may know if you follow the national news in the USA, we just had an amphibious “Duck” boat sink in Table Rock Lake at Branson, Missouri, killing almost half of those on board, including most of the members of one family. No one had on a life vest and the boat launched under bad weather warnings. I do not understand how anyone gets on a boat without a life vest or considers a boat trip with bad weather coming on. Its should be common sense.
Tonya,
I pretty much agree with you
The Branson Tragedy I understand a little more as the weather came up out of no where . If there were warnings I did not hear that . They were caught some what off guard. What I did not understand is why they did not turn back to land or get life jackets out . Even if they were under the seats they should have at least tried. I am not sure I would have put a life jacket on in a duck boat as I considered they were save Or would have waited until it got bad
In this case
At night on a lake and moving no doubt I would have had one on as well as everyone in the boat. Lights would be on as well
What is sad if either driver was drinking, the investigation will end at that .
They will not look to see if the drinking driver was really at fault it is automatic
I have never heard of them going any further in an investigation
Doc, I followed the duck boat situation closely in the days that followed. To say the storm came “out of nowhere” has been thoroughly repudiated by the facts, including meteorologists at the National Weather Service and local TV stations. The storm was on radar for hours before it moved into the Branson area.
Also, the captain of the duck boat knew the storm was coming but made the unfortunate decision to go into the water anyway, thinking he could get back to shore at the end of his run before it hit.
One of the survivors of the disaster said the captain said “you won’t need the life jackets” during the trip. In its initial inquiry, the Coast Guard found “misconduct” by the boat operators.
Ron,
Thanks for the info. I did not know that for sure. What we first heard was it came up suddenly and without warning. I had not heard any up date on that
What a tragedy to have them and not use them. We did hear that the boats had been ruled unsafe for rough water in the past
Ron is correct – Weather forecasters here had been announcing the incoming storm that occurred when this Duck boat sank for at least a half-day prior to the boat sinking. It was already dark & stormy-looking when they launched. And the boat that sank was not the only one on the lake – three Duck boats launched within minutes of each other; the other two encountered issues but were able to get back to shore intact. Survivor Tia Coleman of Indiana, who lost her husband, her children, and her in-laws in this, has just filed a multi-million dollar wrongful death lawsuit. The Coast Guard has referred the issue for further Federal investigation, and there is a strong call for all Duck boats to be grounded until a better boat design can be developed and built. I am pretty sure this will be ruled an incident of a promoter looking out for his pocketbook (not wanting to cancel the ride and refund the $40/head), not the safety of those on his ride. My understanding is that there were life vests on onboard, under the seats, but those aboard were not able to get them out – they were secured in the underseat bin in some way. This Duck sank near the Showboat Branson Belle, and people on the Belle dove into the lake to try to save the people on the Duck. One of those rescuers too, has filed a lawsuit for mental anguish for what he saw and experienced. I expect the lawsuits on this and the debate on the safety of these Duck boats will continue for many years to come. This was not the first incident of one of these Ducks sinking and people dying.
I did not know they had a pre warning
If memory serves me right, this same thing or similar happened down in Louisiana
Possible I have the two mixed up
Still a horrible tragedy that was caused because of bad judgement