Monday, September 15, 2008

Two Drown In Tourist Boat Horror

A six-year-old child and a man have died after being trapped in a tourist boat that sank in central Paris. The pair, reportedly father and son, had been stuck in the bottom of the boat and spent several minutes underwater before being pulled out by divers. Attempts to resuscitate them failed. Ten other passengers on the small boat jumped into the river before it sank and were all rescued safely. The accident took place on Saturday night at the Pont de l'Archeveche, a bridge on the River Seine in the French capital.
Police lift the sunk boat from the River Seine
The bridge connects the tip of the Ile de la Cite, where the popular tourist landmark Notre Dame cathedral is located, to the Left Bank of the river. The nationalities of the victims were not known. The boat was raised from the riverbed during the night. It will be used in investigations into the cause of the accident, which is also not yet known. Authorities first thought the boat had hit a pillar of the bridge but later said it was possible though not certain it had hit another boat. Tourist boats travel along the busy Seine both day and night and accidents are extremely rare.

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