Missouri duck boat captain charged in deadly accident

A grand jury indicted the captain of a Missouri tourist boat that sank and killed 17 people in July, charging him with 17 counts of neglect of duty by a ship’s officer resulting in death, federal prosecutors announced Thursday. Kenneth Scott McKee was captaining an amphibious vessel called a duck boat on Table Rock Lake near Branson, Mo., in July when a sudden storm hit, causing the accident. Nine people from an Indiana family were among the victims. A spokesman for Ripley Entertainment, the company that operates the boats, has repeatedly declined to comment but said the company has cooperated with authorities.

Since 1999, 42 deaths have been associated with duck boat accidents.