Philadelphia — It took more than two days, but the wreckage from Wednesday’s duck boat accident and the bodies of two passengers are now recovered.
A salvage company brought the boat out of the water at about 2:45 p.m. and loaded it onto the company’s barge. The company will bring the boat to shore for closer inspection.
From Penn’s Landing, 200 yards from the accident site, the only sign of damage visible was a crushed canopy, but there could be more damage to the side of the boat that couldn’t be seen.
One passenger, 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner, was found at 4:45 a.m. downriver from the accident site. A fisherman found her near the Walt Whitman Bridge on his way out for the day, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
The body of the other, 20-year-old Szablcs Prem, was recovered by the Philadelphia Police Department’s marine unit at about 3:10 p.m. It was first spotted around 9 a.m., before his body drifted underneath the salvage company’s barge. The current was too strong for the police to recover the body until after the barge moved.
Both were Hungarian citizens visiting the United States on a church program, the Inquirer reported.
Although the Philadelphia Police Department’s work is almost done, NTSB still has much ahead of it. Board members Robert Sumwalt and newly-approved Dr. Mark Rosekind came to Penn’s Landing around 2:30 p.m. Friday to watch recovery action.
NTSB Lead investigator Tom Roth-rothy spent much of the day onboard a local Coast Guard boat, observing recovery efforts.
Rosekind and Sumwalt spent much of the time in serious talk with local police and Coast Guard officials and were there when the second body was recovered.
NTSB declined to comment until tonight’s press conference at 8 p.m., where they will discuss findings from today’s investigations.
Check back later tonight for a series of photos from today’s work.