Two tourists remain missing tonight after a city-owned barge hit an amphibious duck boat as it plied the Delaware River off Penns Landing.
Police divers were searching for a 16-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man, both tourists from Hungary, who were among 37 women and children plunged into the water.
The unaccounted for passengers are feared to have been caught in the wreckage of the duck boat which sank in 40-feet of water.
Thirty-five passengers survived with minor injuries and were recovered by police, fire, and Coast Guard vessels.
The crash, at 2:39 p.m., occurred off Columbus Boulevard near Chestnut Street. A Coast Guard Lt. Commander said there was no record of a distress call from the duck boat.
Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said the divers' search for the two missing passengers was impeded by the murky waters.
"They don't know if the bodies are inside the boat because so dark," said Ramsey. ""You can't see three inches in front of you."
Ramsey added that they would bring the boat up and search it, but he did not know how long that would take.
The duck boat - operated by Ride the Ducks - launched just south of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge and encountered mechanical difficulties and a fire that forced it to shut down, said Police Department spokesman Lt. Frank Vanore.
"The boat was sitting on the water waiting for help," Vanore said.
The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate the accident, Vanore said.
The 250-foot barge, named the Resource, was being pushed by a tug on its port side.
Witness Talmadge Robinson saw the duck boat stopped in the river. A nurse's assistant, Robinson said he was sitting ashore when he saw the barge approaching the immobile vehicle. "There was a really loud bang. The thing was a sitting duck." Robinson said he helped pull three children in life jackets out of the water.
He and others ashore grabbed emergency fire hoses and ropes lying on the dock and threw them towards the survivors. "People were screaming."
Robinson, from Philadelphia, said it appeared the tug had enough time to avoid the duck boat.
"I looked out and all of these kids were in the river." He said there were "a lot of kids."
"They were pretty scared. All they could say was 'thank you.' " said Robinson, who was still dressed in blue medical scrubs from his job.
Robinson said when uniformed police arrived they dived into the water to rescue the children. He said it took about 10 minutes for the children to slowly drift to within reach.
