Nine family members among victims of US 'duck boat' tragedy

Officials in the United States (US) have confirmed that nine members of one family were among the 17 persons who died when a tour boat sank in a lake in the state of a Missouri on Thursday.

According to reports, the nine family members are from the state of Indiana and were vacationing in Missouri.

Authorities confirmed that one-year-old Arya Coleman was the youngest member of the family to die in the incident while Ervin Coleman, 76, was the oldest.

The others have been identified as Maxwell Coleman, 2, Evan Coleman, 7, Reece Coleman, 9, Glenn Coleman, 40, Angela Coleman, 45, Belinda Coleman, 69, and Horace "Butch" Coleman, 70.

Two members of the family survived the mishap, including one woman identified as Tia Coleman, according to media reports.

"I lost all my children, I lost my husband, I lost my mother-in-law, I lost my father-in-law, I lost my uncle, I lost my sister-in-law - she was my sister - and I lost my nephew, I'm OK, but this is really hard," one of the surviving relative was quoted as saying.

The amphibious "duck boat" capsized on Table Rock Lake, a popular tourist attraction, during a rapidly deteriorating thunderstorm

One of the surviving relative told American media outlets that the captain of the boat told the 31 passengers not to put on life jackets.

"The captain told us 'don't worry about grabbing the life jackets, you won't need them,' so nobody grabbed them because we listened to the captain and he told us to stay seated,” the family member said.

"However, in doing that, when it was time to grab them it was too late. I believe that a lot of people could have been spared,” the family member added.

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