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Boat hits bridge in central Paris

by amyjudd | September 13, 2008 at 02:33 pm | 402 views | 11 comments | 40 recommendations

A tourist boat with about 10 passengers on board has hit a bridge pillar on the River Seine in central Paris.

A number of people jumped in the water and were later rescued. Two people - including a child - were in a serious condition, police say.

The cause of the accident near Notre Dame is being investigated by police.

The boat sank after hitting the pillar. This type of incident is extremely rare in Paris, correspondents say.

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Heiky

flagged this story as News Wanted

at 14:33 on September 13th, 2008

I think this is an important story and would benefit from other NowPublic contributors working on it. I've flagged it as News Wanted and invite others in relevant locations to look for more evidence.

Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:10 on September 13th, 2008

What is it this time ?

A little too much of the bubbly ?

mchawk

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 15:15 on September 13th, 2008

The city hall says 10 people had jumped from the boat into the River Seine and had been rescued, while two others, including a child, who were trapped in the sinking boat but had been rescued by divers and were being resuscitated.

Authorities say they do not know how many people were on the boat when it collided with the Pont de l'Archeveche, which links the tip of the Ile de la Cite where Notre Dame cathedral is located to the Left Bank of the river.

MarkA.Cadiz

at 16:35 on September 13th, 2008

After further investigation, a possibility that there might have been a minor collision with another boat on the Seine River still remains undetermined announced the Secretary of Transport; Dominique Bussereau earlier today. A man in this forties and his six year-old son are in critical condition following the accident Saturday night.

amyjudd

at 16:41 on September 13th, 2008

Thank you for the new information - I hadn't heard about that.

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 22:28 on September 13th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. I think it must be one of this "glas boats", you can eat there at the same time viewing Paris from the river. I never heard of any accident before, strange.

Selon lui, dix des passagers du bateau, dont on ignore le nom mais qui serait une vedette "privée" immatriculée à Paris, ont été repêchés par les secours

Lemonde says it was a private boat, not a tourist boat.

MarkA.Cadiz

at 03:27 on September 14th, 2008

The man in his forties and six year old boy who were previously thought to be related were not able to recover from their injuries and passed away this morning at the hospital where they were transported. Both were believed to be submerged underwater for over 20 minutes; further details on both victims haven't yet been released.

Info found on http://www.leparisien.fr.

Paschen

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 03:01 on September 14th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff.

LotusFlower

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 04:52 on September 14th, 2008

amyjudd, I like this story. It's good stuff. Yes - reports that the child and man have died are now confirmed - very sad.

The unnamed pair, a man in his forties and a six-year-old boy, died after being trapped underwater for 20 minutes on Saturday night in the sunken boat near Notre Dame cathedral.

Ten of the 12 - six adults and six children - had managed to jump overboard and were quickly fished out of the river. All involved were French nationals.

The accident took place at the Pont de l'Archeveche, a bridge linking the tip of the Ile de la Cite, which houses Notre Dame, to the Left Bank of the river.

Divers pulled the two victims, thought to be father and son, from inside the sunken boat minutes after the sinking. Rescuers tried to resuscitate them, but they died overnight in hospital.

The boat was raised from the riverbed during the night and will be used in investigations into the cause of the accident, which remains unclear.