US: Investigators pulled a sunken tour boat from the bottom of a lake in New York state yesterday, seeking clues to Sunday's tragedy when the vessel capsized during a pleasure cruise, killing 20 elderly passengers.
The captain of the stricken vessel told authorities the wake from another boat tipped over the 12m Ethan Allen on picturesque Lake George, 320km north of New York City.
But the acting chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board said "nothing is ruled out" in the investigation.
"It's much too early to determine what happened on that lake. Nothing is off the table," Mark Rosenker told a news conference.
The investigation began with a preliminary interview with the captain and more clues would be sought from the wreckage, which spent the night on the bottom of the lake, some 21m beneath the surface.
The boat turned on its side so quickly there was no time for the 47 elderly passengers to put on life jackets while rescuers rushed to the scene a few hundred metres offshore.
Other boaters attempted rescues, tossing flotation devices overboard. Witnesses reported seeing floating bodies that were later lined up on the shore in a makeshift morgue.
"I could hear people screaming inside the boat. We just couldn't get to them," canoeist Brian Heart told the New York Times.
The captain, Richard Paris, told officials on Sunday he tried to avoid the wake of an unidentified craft that stirred the otherwise calm waters.
"He attempted to steer out of it and in doing so the boat pitched over on its side," Warren County sheriff Larry Cleveland told reporters.
The death toll was revised down to 20 from the 21 reported initially. There were 28 survivors, including the captain. The dead were aged 55 to 90, and some used walkers on board.
The toll could rise again, Sheriff Cleveland said, because some of the seven hospitalised victims had severe injuries.
Officials and residents called it the worst accident ever on Lake George, where tourists come to see autumn foliage. - (Reuters)