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Trapped showboat passengers escorted to safety
After a rough night spent wrapped in tablecloths and dozing on floors, stranded showboat passengers began walking to safety from their disabled vessel via a 30-foot plank, a spokeswoman for the company that owns the boat said Sunday.
The process of safely escorting to shore the 567 passengers and 76 crew members aboard the Showboat Branson Belle –stuck in a remote area of Missouri's Table Rock Lake since Saturday afternoon - was expected to take about three hours, said Lisa Rau, a spokeswoman for Herschend Family Entertainment.
The incident left hundreds of passengers trapped on a boat with no sleeping accommodations.
Earlier, the arduous task of reaching the boat's remote location involved bulldozing vegetation to create a pathway.
"We are moving heaven and earth to get to them," Rau said earlier Sunday, adding that gusty winds and freezing temperatures were making the job difficult.
The boat left the dock in Branson, Missouri, at 4 p.m. Saturday and ran aground after the captain had problems with the thruster during the cruise, which was scheduled to last two and a half hours.
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it should have been a three hour tour, a three hour tour. Skipper!
i been on that ship/tour.. it wasn't bad but the people on it were alot older than me and my wife. the food was good and the show was ok.
Awww the joys and memory making at it's best in Branson!!!
My Co-worker WAS on the boat for this incident.
Have heard some stories !!
I was a passenger on this boat.. I enjoyed the show and the dinner.. As for the extra 17 hours.. well shame on that capt. for taking us out in that when he knew darn well that the winds were suppose to pick up.. And not only that he had a hard time docking the boat on the first show, 30 minutes late . So why in the world would you try to go out again.. I am very happy to be home.. I must say the employees were great and they did the best they could with what they had. Kuddos to the F.D. Coast Gaurd, Volunteers and others that were there to rescue us.. I thank you very much.