2 Missing After Mississippi Barge Capsizes

Two people are missing after a Mississippi River barge capsized while unloading steel coils in northeast Arkansas on Tuesday.

The incident occurred at a terminal on the Arkansas side of the river, near Blytheville. Part of the river was closed as the Coast Guard, Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and Mississippi County Sheriff’s Department searched for the two missing people.

Houston-based Kinder Morgan owns the terminal where the incident occurred. It was not yet known what company owned or operated the barge.

It was not yet known whether anything on the barge could be hazardous to the environment. A 9-1-1 dispatcher said a call was received Tuesday reporting the incident. The caller said the barge was unloading, and the load shifted, then the boat capsized.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management said it was coordinating a multi-agency response and that the cause of the incident was not yet clear.

“It’s still a revolving situation right now so we’re waiting on more information,” spokesman Brandon Morris said.

Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers recently represented two Kinder Morgan employees in a claim in which a vessel capsized in the Houston Ship Channel.