Six Teens Drown In Louisiana River

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) - Six teenagers who could not swim drowned in a northwest Louisiana river during a family outing, falling into deep water from the shallows where they were wading.

Officials planned to hold a news conference Tuesday to release more details about the deaths of the six, who drowned Monday in the Red River in an area where sand bars gave way to 20-foot depths. A seventh teen, a 14-year-old, was rescued.

Shreveport Assistant Fire Chief Fred Sanders said he believed the victims, ages 13 to 18, included three brothers from one family and a sister and two brothers from another.

"They were out here with some adults. But unfortunately, neither the children nor the adults could swim," he said.

Sanders said names may be released Tuesday, after the department is sure relatives have been notified.

The teens had started playing in a familiar area but ended up at a spot in the river where the bottom fell suddenly and that's where divers found the bodies, Sanders said.

Marilyn Robinson, a friend of the families, told The Times of Shreveport she watched helplessly as the victims went under. She said a large group of family and friends, including roughly 20 children, were out at the sandbar to barbecue and have a good time. They frequent the area and were familiar with the water, Robinson said.

"None of us could swim," she said. "They were yelling 'help me, help me. Somebody please help me.' It was nothing I could do but watch them drown one by one."

Sanders said he did not know whether one teen fell and pulled down others, or if they were trying to rescue each other.

It took more than three hours to find all the bodies, he said.

"It's devastating," Sanders said. "To my knowledge the city has never experienced an incident of this magnitude."

Only one life jacket was available, Caddo Parish sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Chadwick said.

Rescue crews were delayed a bit because the accident was reported as near the Jimmie Davis Bridge but was nearly a mile away, Sanders said.

The families were in a recreational area of the Red River that has sand bars, Sanders said. The park is a popular picnic and fishing area and some people do go wading.

www.wavy.com

Oil Skimming Ship Makes Stop In Virginia

I wonder how long it will take for all of this to get through the red tape? Finally a country coming to the United States in he time of great need!! Why didn't anyone think about this a loooong time ago? Surely, someone that deals with oil MUST have some idea of what this ship can possibly do. I don't buy it for a second that they didn't. So much time has been used on the "duh and um" factors.


NORFOLK, Va. — With no assurances it will be allowed to join the Gulf oil cleanup, a Taiwanese-owned ship billed as the world's largest skimming vessel is sailing Friday to the Deepwater Horizon disaster in hopes of gulping down 500,000 barrels a day of oily water.

The ship — the length of 3 1/2 football fields and 10 stories high — is designed to work 40 to 50 miles offshore and collect oily water through 12 vents on either side of its bow. It docked in Norfolk en route to the Gulf from Portugal, where it was retrofitted to skim the seas.

The owners of the "A Whale" said the new skimming approach has never been attempted on this scale.

"We really have to start showing people what we can do," said Bob Grantham, project coordinator for TMT Group, a Taiwan-based shipping company. "We're seriously looking at whether we can go on site and just try to do it ourselves. That's not a good solution. We need to work with everyone else."

The company is still negotiating with the Coast Guard to join the cleanup and does not have a contract with BP to perform the work. The company also needs environmental approval and waiver of a nearly century-old law aimed at protecting U.S. shipping interests.

Environmental Protection Agency approval is required because some of the seawater returned to the Gulf would have traces of oil.

The company said it also needs a waiver of the 1920 Jones Act, which limits the activities of foreign-flagged ships in coastal U.S. waters.

Grantham said TMT was hopeful it could secure the necessary approvals during the ship's three-day passage to the Gulf. The Liberian-flagged ship was to leave Norfolk later Friday.

The converted oil tanker has the capacity of holding 2 million barrels, but would limit its holding tanks to 1 million barrels for environmental reasons. Oil skimmed up by the tanker would be separated from seawater, then transferred to another vessel.

"I believe this spill is unprecedented and you need an unprecedented solution," said T.K. Ong, senior vice president for TMT.

The effort received the endorsement of at least one Louisiana resident.

Edward Overton, a professor emeritus from Louisiana State University, was among the visitors at the port where the A Whale was berthed. He called the current cleanup inadequate.

"We need this ship," he told TMT executives. "That oil is already contaminating our shoreline."

www.chron.com

photos- Daily Press