A passenger thrown from a boat that flipped over with 29 people aboard during a tour of a dimly lit cavern system said he fought to breathe in the chilly water under the capsized craft.
The flat-bottomed boat carrying local hospitality workers capsized Monday during a tour of an historic underground water tunnel off the Erie Canal in the western New York city of Lockport, killing one person.
Tour Guide Kyle Burkwit leads a group on a tour of the Lockport Caves in Lockport, N.Y., on Aug. 21, 2014. A boat carrying hospitality workers capsized Monday, June 12, 2023, during a tour of the historic underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, killing one person who became trapped beneath the overturned vessel, officials said. (Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News via AP)AP
“By the time I realized what happened, the boat was on top of me and I couldn’t find any air pockets or anything. And I’m just trying to, like, breathe because I’m underwater,” survivor Daniel Morrissette told ABC’s “Good Morning America” in an interview aired Tuesday.
The unidentified person who died also was trapped after the boat operated by Lockport Cave Tours capsized. Eleven people were brought to hospitals, mostly with minor injuries, according to officials.
Elizabeth Morrissette told GMA people were panicking and yelling loudly as they were thrown into the water, which emergency officials said was between 5 feet and 6 feet deep.
Water reflects the rock of the man-made Lockport Caves in Lockport, N.Y., on Aug. 21, 2014. A boat carrying hospitality workers capsized Monday, June 12, 2023, during a tour of the historic underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, killing one person who became trapped beneath the overturned vessel, officials said. (Mark Mulville/The Buffalo News via AP)AP
Some passengers were able to get to safety. Emergency crews used an inflatable boat to rescue about 16 others, fire officials said.
This photo provided by Jeremy Swiatowy shows rescue workers as they breach a wall with a sledgehammer, Monday, June 12, 2023, before shimming through the hole to help rescue people stuck inside the caves in Lockport, N.Y. One person was killed and multiple people were sent to local hospitals after a boat capsized on Monday, June 12, during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, officials said. (Jeremy Swiatowy via AP)AP
City of Lockport Police were investigating the accident. An email seeking an update was sent to the police chief Tuesday.
The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride through a rough-hewn tunnel, which was blasted out in the 19th century to transport canal water as an industrial power source.
The attraction is about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Niagara Falls.