The boat had been docked at the port for about two hours before the incident, NBC affiliate WDSU reported.
Authorities said the tanker lost control and collided with the riverboat at 12:30 p.m. in the Port of New Orleans, one of the nation’s largest ports. As passengers disembarked, the riverboat began to sink and overturn, Moreno said.
“When that happened, we started having people in the water,” she said.
She described efforts to rescue these passengers as an “all-hands-on-deck approach.” Port Police Chief Melody Montroll said officers removed more than 80 people from the riverboat before it capsized. Commercial and private vessels also joined in the rescue. Moreno said a boat from a local barge company pulled more than a dozen people from the water.
The riverboat captain was injured and was the last person to leave the ship, Moreno said. He waited until he knew the whereabouts of the passengers and crew before seeking treatment. The American Heritage was scheduled to embark on a seven-day cruise to the Mississippi River.
Videos and images verified by NBC News show a number of people wearing life jackets in the water near the crash site.
A passenger who was on the riverboat told NBC News she had to crawl to safety after the collision.
“After the first accident it hit us again and we turned around and I had to crawl over the railing and people to save myself,” Rhonda Akers said.
Akers said her husband had been hospitalized with a head injury and she was waiting to see him.
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