A tanker ship struck a riverboat carrying 197 people on Friday in New Orleans, causing the cruise ship to capsize at its dock and prompting a wide-scale search-and-rescue operation, the authorities said.
Mayor Helena Moreno of New Orleans said at a news conference that all passengers of the riverboat, the American Heritage, were accounted for after the crash. A city of New Orleans spokesperson added that 32 people were at local hospitals, and one person had serious injuries.
“It is a literal miracle on the Mississippi,” said Gov. Jeff Landry of Louisiana, who also spoke at the news conference.
Capt. Melanie A. Burnham, commander of Sector New Orleans for the U.S. Coast Guard, praised the work of those who rescued the ship’s passengers.
“I want to recognize the dedication, professionalism and bravery of all those first responders,” she said.
It was not clear what had caused the tanker, which officials identified as the Atlantic Asphalt, to lose control and veer into the side of the passenger boat, one of the paddle wheel vessels synonymous with the Mississippi River. Nor was it said what, if anything, the tanker was carrying. A ship registry listed the tanker as 525 feet long.
The crash happened around 12:30 p.m. Central time on Friday, sending passengers and crew members on the riverboat into the river, which is frequently congested with tankers and cruise ships. There were 147 passengers and 50 crew members aboard, the city of New Orleans spokesperson said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said on Friday that it was sending a team of investigators to New Orleans. They were expected to arrive on Saturday at the crash scene, which is slightly beyond where the Mississippi River bends, giving New Orleans its name as the Crescent City. The area is near the French Quarter and the Crescent City Connection, the bridges that connect the east and west banks of New Orleans.
While the evacuation of the riverboat was underway, the vessel began to sink, Ms. Moreno said.
“Then, eventually, the cruise ship toppled over and flipped,” she said.
People aboard clung to the rails and screamed as the riverboat overturned, according to videos posted online.
Others wrapped their arms around orange inflatable rings and bobbed in the water.
Wayne Hager III said his daughter, Leelah Hager, 19, had been working in housekeeping aboard the riverboat when it was struck.
She texted him about the crash, but he became worried when she stopped responding. She later made a video call to him.
When he answered, Ms. Hager appeared fully submerged in the river wearing a bright orange life jacket, Mr. Hager said.
His daughter was crying and told her father she was scared. He said he could see “hunks of metal” near her. The call dropped. Mr. Hager called back, but only heard screams and yelling.
Ms. Hager called her father back later from land and said she was safe. She told her father that while in the water, she had helped a friend stay afloat who had not been able to don a life jacket correctly.
Jamie Holford, 42, was pulling up to the harbor parking lot at around 12:30 p.m., he said, when he heard a tremendous noise.
“Imagine a giant Coke can, and you crushing it,” he said. “That’s about the easiest way I can explain that.”
Mr. Holford, who installs commercial kitchen equipment, had arrived with a fellow worker and was getting ready to board the ship itself to survey it for a new kitchen install in about a month.
He was about “40 yards, give or take,” from the scene of the crash, but didn’t see the tanker itself hit the boat. He saw the “dock being rammed by the tanker,” he said.
A majority of the passengers seemed to have gotten off already, he said, by the time he got to the docks.
“It was starting to take on water,” he said. “It was tilting a little bit. We helped them get the catwalk back onto the dock whenever the boat drifted closer to the dock.”
“Probably after about maybe 10 minutes, the boat just started rolling over,” he said.
The riverboat had been docked for two hours on the Mississippi River outside of 1350 Port of New Orleans Place, said Kimberly Curth, a spokeswoman for the Port of New Orleans, and was just beginning to unload passengers. The river boat had arrived from Natchez, Miss., according to MarineTraffic, a ship tracking website.
At the time of the crash, it was sunny and the temperatures were in the mid-60s in New Orleans, according to the National Weather Service.
The American Heritage can accommodate up to 150 passengers, according to American Cruise Lines. The boat, which stretches nearly 300 feet and has five decks, has a glass-enclosed restaurant, guest lounges and a fitness center.
The crash served as a reminder of the dangers of navigating the Mississippi River as its winds through New Orleans and the surrounding area.
In 1976, a Norwegian tanker crashed into a ferry before daybreak in Luling, La., about 20 miles west of New Orleans, killing 78 people. Many of the victims were on their way to work at industrial plants.
In 1996, a 700-foot freighter plowed into a popular downtown riverfront shopping mall and tourist attraction in New Orleans that had been packed with Christmas shoppers. Dozens of people were injured, but there were no fatalities.
Madison Malone Kircher and Shannon Sims contributed reporting. Sheelagh McNeill and Kirsten Noyes contributed research.