1 dead, 1 missing after Kyoto tour boat with 29 aboard capsizes

Again? Last time in Hokkaido just last year?

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/05/24/national/hokkaido-boat-sinking-business-impact/

They said Japan is a country with really strict and high standard. Now with price going up, they need to make reduction of cost somewhere.

All 29 people aboard the boat were wearing lifejackets, according to the operator.

Showing that reasonable safety measures can save lives. As show here even on a river cruise these measures may not be enough to save everybody, but they surely help. The previous accident in Hokkaido on the opposite side shows what happens when companies and regulators play it loose with safety and do their tours without the minimum measures to ensure the people taking part have chance to survive in case of an accident.

Use rubber rafts. Not wood long canoe looking things. Easy...

Carrying people as many as 30 in light wooden boats is never an easy task, weight distribution and balancing plays a major fact, the crew will have their hands full steering it even in stable waters.

Michael M - you are correct.

If the waterway is calm and flowing slowly then these traditional wooden craft are perfect for leisurely cruising.

The upper reaches of the area had received recent heavy rain, increasing water flow-speed and creating much more turbulent rapids in the rocky zones.

The difficulty in maneuvering a long, light, narrow, rigid boat in such conditions must be great. One mistake and then there's hell to play.

A rubber boat, built to standards for white water rafting was necessary for those river conditions.

Shocking that the company allowed for the boating to go ahead.

Sadly, seems like "Oh we can't disappoint the customers" was the bottom line.

It is a wonderful adventure. I took some of my 5th graders (USA) during summer vacation.

A boat ride through gorges and rapid leads to this tragic accident. Safety standards need a review.

Video

https://youtu.be/7dZ8EU1ivTI

Any foreigners involved?

I did this ride several years ago. Fun and a little hairy is places. Even with lots of safety precautions, freak accidents do happen, especially when the water is running faster from snowmelt. Condolences to the families of the people lost.

Sadly, seems like "Oh we can't disappoint the customers" was the bottom line.

Sadly I think the bottom line was the bottom line.

Awa no GaijinToday  11:10 am JST

Curious tragedy.

If they were all wearing life jackets then why is one missing ?

1 staff member died and another is missing. I've never seen the staff members wearing life jackets no matter the conditions. I've been there many times but never done the ride, always felt it looked dodgy.

Incompetence seems rife, not wearing a life jacket for staff is utter madness.

Surely if you do such a responsible job, you should at least be able to swim?

RodneyToday  02:29 pm JST

Surely if you do such a responsible job, you should at least be able to swim?

I don't know what happened to them but if you get smashed up against a rock and knocked out it doesn't matter if you can swim or have a life jacket on, you can end up floating face first in the water before you know it. Also, rivers may look calm on the surface but can have killer under currents.

After one of the four staff members made a steering error and fell into the water, the boat hit rocks and capsized

Seriously? What kind of clowns are running this circus? It’s another Hokkaido cruise ship in trouble. Luckily all the passengers survived, unlike the other recent cruise ship disaster.

As we all can see from the last few years, seems to be take a chance, just to make that extra money,

Go Kart, Scenic tour boat in very cold water on a rough day, Now this and I am sure many more.

I tell you being on the water all the time, Things can change in a blink of an eye out on the water.

kniknaknok - You said you've been many times but not seen staff wearing life jackets.

In this case the operator said they were. Maybe yes, maybe no.

But on tv last night they showed video footage - not of this incident - but of the same operation in similar conditions to give viewers an impression of the difficulty of handling the boats.

And no staff had life jackets on.

If they truly were not wearing life jackets then this company should be ended asap.

Surely if you do such a responsible job, you should at least be able to swim?

Who says they couldn't swim? The best of the best surf-swimming lifeguards have even been known to drown in the surf in adverse conditions.