Soldiers and rescue workers flat at the site where a ferry sank in a reservoir in Guatape, Colombia, Sunday, June 25, 2017. Nine people were dead and 28 missing after a tourist ferry packed with around... (Associated Press) 
 
 GUATAPE, Colombia (AP) — A tourist boat packed with about 170 passengers for the holiday weekend capsized Sunday on a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin, leaving nine people dead and 28 missing, officials said. 
 
 Rescuers including firefighters from nearby cities and air force pilots were searching for survivors at the Guatape reservoir where the four-story El Almirante ferry sank. A flotilla of recreational boats and jet skis rushed to the scene, pulling people from the boat as it went down and avoiding an even deadlier tragedy. 
 
 Dramatic videos circulating on social media show the turquoise and yellow trimmed party boat rocking back and forth as people crawled down from a fourth-floor roof as it began sinking into the water. 
 
 "Those on the first and second floors sank immediately," a female survivor who wasn't identified by name told Teleantioquia. "The boat was sinking and all we could do was scream and call for help." 
 
 Margarita Moncada, the head of the disaster response agency in Antioquia state, said that according to a preliminary report 99 people were rescued and another 40 managed to find a way to shore on their own and were in good condition. Speaking to reporters from the reservoir, she said nine people had been killed and around 28 are still missing. 
 
 It's unclear what caused the boat to sink but survivors said that it appeared to be overloaded and nobody on board was wearing a life vest. 
 
 Daniel Giraldo, owner of an Italian restaurant in Guatape, said he went to the bay after hearing the sound of ambulances. When he got to the shore people told him the ship had gone under. 
 
 "It sank in a matter of four minutes," he said. 
 
 Next he went to the hospital where he said he saw a baby girl in a wet dress who had been saved but whose mother he was told is missing. 
 
 Authorities were at a loss to say exactly how many people were on the boat and asked passengers or their loved ones to report to a rescue center hastily set up along the shore. They also made a call for scuba divers to assist with the search. 
 
 The reservoir surrounding the soaring rocky outcrop of El Penol is a popular weekend destination a little more than an hour from Medellin. It was especially busy Sunday as Colombians celebrated a long holiday weekend. 
 
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 AP Writers Christine Armario from Bogota, Colombia and Joshua Goodman from Caracas, Venezuela contributed to this report ||||| (Reuters) - Nine members of the same family were among 17 people killed when a “duck boat” sank during a storm on Thursday on a Missouri lake in one of the deadliest U.S. tourist tragedies in years. 
 
 The World War Two-style amphibious vehicle was carrying 31 passengers including children when the sudden “microburst” storm hit Table Rock Lake outside Branson, with waves slowly swamping the vehicle before it sank. 
 
 More than three dozen people have died in incidents involving duck boats on land and water in the United States over the past two decades. 
 
 Tia Coleman said she and her nephew were the only survivors from 11 members of their family who went on the “Ride The Ducks” tour. 
 
 "I lost all my children, I lost my husband," Coleman told Indianapolis television channel Fox 59 from her hospital bed in Branson. "I'm OK, but this is really hard, just really hard." bit.ly/2LB7QwJ 
 
 She said the captain of the boat told them when they were in the lake not to put their life jackets on, an action she believed cost lives. The crew was warned to get in and out of the lake quickly as a storm was approaching, she said. 
 
 The 17 victims were aged between 1 and 70 and came from six U.S. states, authorities said. The included Arkansas residents Steve Smith and his son Lance, their church newspaper said. Smith’s daughter Loren survived. His wife opted not go on the tour, the paper said. 
 
 Missouri Governor Mike Parson said seven of the 14 survivors were injured, one seriously. 
 
 “Emergency responders and civilian rescuers helped avert an even worse tragedy as people rushed to help in extremely dangerous conditions,” Parson said in a statement. 
 
 The tragedy unfolded at around 7 p.m. (0000 GMT) on Thursday when thunderstorms rolled over the lake, churning the water into white-capped waves. Two duck vehicles were on the lake and headed back to shore but only one made it. The driver of the duck that sank was among those killed, officials said. 
 
 Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader told reporters that the boat’s captain survived. 
 
 “From what I understand there was life jackets in the duck,” Rader said, but he declined to say if passengers were wearing them. 
 
 The National Transportation Safety Board and U.S. Coast Guard were investigating, officials said. 
 
 Jim Pattison, president of Ripley Entertainment, which owns the Branson “Ride The Ducks” tour company, said the strength of the storm was unexpected, but the duck boat should not have been in the lake. 
 
 “It shouldn’t have been in the water if what happened, happened,” Pattison told the CBS This Morning show. 
 
 ‘NEVER SEEN IT LIKE THIS’ 
 
 Pat Cox, owner of a marina about a half mile from where the vessel went down, sent five boats and some 20 people to the rescue, most between the ages of 18 and 20. 
 
 FILE PHOTO: A duck boat is seen at Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri, U.S., July 19, 2018 in this picture grab obtained from social media video. Ron Folsom/via REUTERS 
 
 “These people showed an amazing strength maybe that we don’t always give them credit for,” Cox said by telephone. “They had it and they took action. And they were good Samaritans.” 
 
 The first boat’s crew was able to pull two people from the waves, Cox said. “It was all hands on deck. We did everything we could.” 
 
 Branson is a family-friendly tourist destination with attractions like “Dolly Parton’s Stampede” dinner theater, the Amazing Acrobats of Shanghai and a Titanic museum with a model of the sunken vessel’s front half. 
 
 Rick Kettles, owner of the Lakeside Resort General Store and Restaurant, said he had never before seen such conditions on the lake, which is a 67-square-mile (174 sq km) reservoir on the White River. 
 
 “I am 54 and I started coming here when I was 6 or 7 years old. I have been on my lake most of my life and I have never seen it like this,” Kettles said. “I am trying to figure out why the boats were out there. I don’t get it, having a captain’s license myself.” 
 
 A microburst is a severe, localized wind gust, blasting down from a thunderstorm, typically covering an area less than 2.5 miles (4 km) in diameter and lasting less than five minutes. 
 
 Duck vehicles, modeled on landing craft that were used in the D-Day invasion of World War Two, are used on sightseeing tours around the world. 
 
 The company that builds ducks, Ride the Ducks International LLC, agreed in 2016 to pay a $1 million fine after one of the vehicles collided with a bus in Seattle, killing five international students. 
 
 Thirteen people died in 1999 when the duck boat in which they were riding sank near Hot Springs, Arkansas. Afterward, the National Transportation Safety Board warned that the boats’ canopy roofs presented a hazard, making it difficult for people, even those wearing life jackets, to escape if one of the vessels capsized. 
 
 Slideshow (2 Images) 
 
 Two tourists died in Philadelphia in 2010 when the duck boat they were in was struck by a tugboat on the Delaware River. ||||| Heartbreaking text message exchanges between students trapped in the sinking ferry off the coast of South Korea and their anxious parents are offering a glimpse into the desperate situation in the crippled vessel. 
 
 "Dad, don't worry. I've got a life vest on and we're huddled together," one 18-year-old student, identified only by her last name, Shin, texted her father, according to MBC News, a Korean news station. 
 
 The father replied: "I know the rescue is underway but make your way out if you can." 
 
 "Dad, I can't walk out," she replied. "The corridor is full of kids, and it's too tilted." 
 
 The student was among the 287 still reported missing. 
 
 WATCH: Korea Ferry Accident: Families Anxiously Wait 
 
 In another exchange, a male student texted his mother, who was unaware at the time that the ferry was in distress. 
 
 "Mom, I might not be able to tell you in person. I love you," the student texted, according to MBC. 
 
 "Me too, son. I love you," the mother texted back, followed with three heart symbols. 
 
 Fortunately, that student was among the 179 people who have been rescued, MBC reported. 
 
 Survivors told harrowing tales of confusion and desperation as people slid along the floor of the sharply listing ship, colliding with one another, or found themselves trapped in cabins by a wall of water. 
 
 Rescued passengers said that immediately after they heard a booming noise, the ship began listing and they heard an announcement over the ship's PA system telling the passengers to stay in place. 
 
 "The baggage was falling out, and we were saying 'What's going on?' But the announcement told us to stay where we were, so we did," one rescued student told MBC. 
 
 READ MORE: Nearly 300 Missing After Ferry Sinks off South Korea's Coast 
 
 "The ship began tilting all of a sudden, and then people started skidding down from above," rescued passenger Young-Ja Shin told SBS News. "There was a railing, so I held onto it, but I then got hit by one of the falling people and we got pushed down to the bottom." 
 
 "It took about 10 seconds to tilt over, and then I began sliding from end to end," rescued passenger Eun-Bok Jang, 50, told SBS News. "I got hit on my side and then I couldn't breathe." 
 
 The vessel tipped over completely on its side, and there was mass confusion inside the ferry as refrigerators and other things fell over, Jang said. 
 
 When the water started rushing in, many passengers put on life vests and escaped outside. But by the time that announcements told passengers to make their way out, the ship had already submerged significantly, so there were few exits that could be used for escape, rescued passengers said. 
 
 Many passengers were gathered in the entertainment center, restaurants and shops on the third floor of the 5-deck ship, but when the ferry capsized, that third floor was fully submerged, authorities told the Yonhap news agency. There was most likely a power outage immediately after the ship capsized, so confused and frantic passengers probably had a hard time finding their way out in the dark and narrow passage ways. 
 
 "When we were making our way out, the wall was almost all water, and it was completely submerged up to the third floor," survivor In-Hwan Kang, 58, told MBC. 
 
 So-Hyun Kim, a teacher accompanying the more than 300 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, said she initially stayed in her cabin because of the announcements, but had to attempt an escape when water came rushing in. 
 
 "I couldn't go anywhere. I didn't have the strength to climb further up," she told SBS News. "There was an open emergency exit, so another teacher and I decided to just fall and swim our way toward it. I fell and hit a railing, and that's when I was rescued." 
 
 Of the 475 passengers on board the ferry, 179 were rescued. Another 287 were listed as missing and 9 died. 
 
 Rescuers were seen boarding the vessel, which had tipped to its side, and combing through the top of the ship for survivors. One man boarded the boat and quickly found what appeared to be a crew member still on it. 
 
 Bodies could be seen scattered through the water in another video shot from a helicopter. A yellow raft was tossed out of the chopper and survivors in the water swam toward it before they were pulled to safety. 
 
 Others were winched in slings to the safety of hovering helicopters. 
 
 As darkness fell, the ferry took on more water and only the rudder of the vessel remained visible before the ship sank about 100 feet below the water. Rescuers stopped searching for those still reported missing at about 7 p.m. due to strong currents and poor visibility, but they resumed their mission around 12:30 a.m. local time, taking advantage of a lull in the strong currents. 
 
 One rescued passenger said he believed that many people had been trapped inside the ferry when it sank. 
 
 The ferry, identified as the Sewol, was sailing to the southern island of Jeju when it sent a distress call as it began leaning to one side. The passengers include more than 300 students from Danwon High School in Ansan, near Seoul, who were on a school trip. 
 
 Yonhap/AP Photo 
 
 Yonhap/AP Photo
– A tourist boat packed with about 160 passengers capsized Sunday on a reservoir near the Colombian city of Medellin, leaving at least six people dead and 31 missing, officials said. Rescuers including firefighters and air force pilots in helicopters searched for survivors at the Guatape reservoir where El Almirante ferry sank. A flotilla of recreational boats and jet skis rushed to the scene, pulling people from the boat as it went down and avoiding an even deadlier tragedy, the AP reports. Dramatic videos circulating on social media show the party boat rocking back and forth as people crawled down from a fourth-floor roof as it began sinking into the water. "Those on the first and second floors sank immediately," a female survivor told Teleantioquia. "The boat was sinking and all we could do was scream and call for help." Survivors described hearing a loud explosion near the men's bathroom that knocked out power a few minutes after the boat began its cruise around the lake. It's unclear what caused the boat to sink, but survivors said that it appeared to be overloaded and nobody on board was wearing a life vest. After arriving at the scene, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said 122 people were either rescued or found their way to shore, but six had died and another 31 were missing, he told reporters.