Tour boat capsizes in Erie Canal water tunnel cave in Lockport, New York
LOCKPORT, N.Y. (AP) — A boat capsized Monday during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, police said.
Police and fire crews were called to the Lockport Cave Tours, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Niagara Falls, at about 11:30 a.m. The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride illuminated only by small lights.
“Crews are working to assist all parties safely out of the area,” police said in a press release.
Police didn’t immediately say how many people were aboard the boat or whether anyone was injured.
Video footage from the scene outside the Lockport Cave office showed one person talking as she was loaded onto an ambulance. Others wrapped in white towels were being escorted to a bus as a steady rain fell.
Photos and videos posted on the Lockport Cave website show small, flat-bottom boats slipping through a rough-hewn tunnel, which was blasted out in the 19th century to transport extra water from the Erie Canal to power nearby businesses.
The tunnel was once the subject of an episode of the Syfy network show “Ghost Hunters.”