Three Dead, One Missing After Tug Boat Sinks

From WTAE - TV Channel 4, Pittsburgh PA - Sunday, January 9, 2005 - 11:17 p.m.:

Industry, Pa.---A tug boat pushing six barges of coal sank on the Ohio River early Sunday, killing three crew members and injuring three others. A seventh crew member was missing and believed to be aboard the submerged boat.

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Full story and photo here:

http://www.ThePittsburghChannel.com

Edited to add:
Why are these coal barges being moved on the Ohio River when there's a flood? There are other coal barges jammed up against another dam (in the Wheeling WV) area . . . as well as others further downstream against yet another dam. There was something on the TV news Saturday night saying that none of the barges can be retrieved until the river crests and subsides; and, that there's a danger that river traffic might come to a halt if the water doesn't return to normal levels. Trouble is: More rain is being predicted for all next week! :shrug:

http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/news/4065376/detail.html

Three Dead, One Missing After Tug Boat Sinks
Two Other Crew Members Hospitalized

POSTED: 11:38 am EST January 9, 2005
UPDATED: 6:46 pm EST January 9, 2005

INDUSTRY, Pa. -- A tug boat pushing six barges of coal sank after entering a dam on the Ohio River early Sunday, killing three crew members and injuring three others. A seventh crew member was missing and believed to be aboard the submerged boat.

The accident happened shortly after 2:30 a.m. when the M/V Elizabeth M was going through the Montgomery Island Dam. The boat was pushing six coal barges, three of which were loaded, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard.


AP Photo
The tugboat Elizabeth M. sinks into the Ohio River.

Officials believe the tug operator may have tried to swing the boat around to help get crew members who were aboard barges off when the current swept the vessels into the dam. When that happened, the barges likely pushed the boat through the dam, said Richard Lockwood, chief of operations of the Pittsburgh District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and John Anderson, the lockmaster.

"I would say the whole thing didn't take five minutes until he was through the dam," Anderson said. The water in the area normally flows at about 3 to 4 miles per hour, but was going about 10 to 15 miles per hour because of recent rains and flooding, he said.

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Coal is still a pretty critical fuel in the midwest in the winter.

Other links ...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61620-2005Jan9.html
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=398233

. . . in this area, too, "...in the winter." We aren't, however, having much of a winter in these-here-parts. Predictions for next week are for more rain and temperatures in the 60s. In other words, the barges that have sunk--thus far--in this area (as well as those that sunk upriver) were hauling coal for local power plants. In fact, the 16 barges that broke loose a couple of days ago--8 of which are jammed up and/or sunk behind the Pike Island Dam & 4 of which sunk downriver (4 were retrieved) . . . those coal barges broke loose from American Electric Power's Cardinal Plant. Haven't heard anything about where the tug-boat/coal barges in today's accident were going; but they were heading in the wrong direction if their destination was "...the midwest...."

Edit: P.S.--Thank you for posting more info & the photo. I wasn't able to type more than that first paragraph of the story; and I haven't learned, yet, how to cut-and-paste (among other things!). And, besides, I wasn't sure if this story belonged in LBN.

Left click> Highlight what you want copied
Right click> on highlighted area> select Cut from drop down menu
left click back on your DU post/reply page
Right click> on the DU Message area> select Paste in the drop down menu

:hi:

I'll have to give that a try--as soon as I'm more comfortable with this contraption.

:-)