Tour boat carrying 36 people capsizes in cave in Lockport, New York

LOCKPORT, N.Y. —  A boat carrying 36 people capsized Monday during a tour of an underground cavern system built to carry water from the Erie Canal beneath the western New York city of Lockport, police said.

Police and fire crews were called to the Lockport Cave Tours, about 20 miles northeast of Niagara Falls, at about 11:30 a.m. The tours take visitors on an underground boat ride illuminated only by small lights.

“Crews are working to assist all parties safely out of the area,” police said in a press release.

Additional information was not immediately available.

The half-mile long tunnel was blasted out in the 19th century to transport extra water from the Erie Canal to power nearby businesses.

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