Search halted in water taxi accident
美国停止搜寻水上的士的遇难者

Investigators looking into safety procedures
Monday, March 8, 2004 Posted: 0107 GMT (0907 HKT)

BALTIMORE, Maryland (CNN) -- Divers halted their search Sunday evening for three people presumed dead in a water taxi accident in the Baltimore harbor, said National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Ellen Engleman Conners.
马里兰州，巴尔的摩(CNN)-----国家运输安全委员会主席Ellen Engleman Conners宣布，潜水员于周日晚暂停对水上的士事故中据推测已经遇难的三个人的搜寻工作。

☆ BALTIMORE  巴尔的摩, 美国马里兰州的一城市
    Maryland 美国马里兰州
    presumed   假定的，推测的
    halt 停止, 暂停

Search efforts will be resumed Monday morning, she said.
她还称，搜寻将于周一早晨继续。
   

The recovery teams were looking for a man and a woman, both 26, and a 6-year-old boy missing a day after a squall capsized the 36-foot pontoon boat.
搜救队伍正在全力寻找同为26岁的一男子和一女子，以及一个6岁的儿童。他们在水上的士倾覆后已失踪1天。

☆squall  暴风
    capsize (指船)倾覆

The boat was carrying 25 people. Twenty-two people were rescued, but one of those -- a 60-year-old woman -- later died.
该船栽有25个人，22个人已经获救，其中一个60岁的妇女于稍后死亡。

☆rescue 援救, 营救

Baltimore Fire Chief William Goodwin said seven people were still hospitalized Sunday, two of them -- an 8-year-old girl and a 30-year-old woman -- in critical condition.
巴尔的摩消防队长William Goodwin宣称，周日仍有7人在住院治疗，其中2人(一个为8岁女孩，另一个为30岁妇女)处于危险状态。

☆hospitalize  就医
   critical condition 临界情况，危笃状态

Officials refused to release information about the victims of the accident until all families had been notified.

"At least 18 of the 25 [on the boat] were not from the Baltimore area," police Maj. Frederick Bealfield said.

The vessel was righted Sunday afternoon and towed to a dock, where it will be lifted from the water for an inspection of its hull, steering and propulsion systems, Conners said. A preliminary inspection of the steering indicated it was normal, she said.
  ☆tow 拖
     dock  码头  
      hull  船体
     steering and propulsion systems 操纵及推进系统
   
    

NTSB investigators said everyone they interviewed Sunday, including the boat's captain and first mate, is cooperating. The boat's captain voluntarily gave investigators blood and urine samples, which will be used for standard toxicology studies, Conners said.

  ☆ first mate 大副
      toxicology 毒理学,毒物学

Two passengers and officials of the companies that owned and operated the boat were also interviewed, Conners said.

The NTSB is particularly interested in what the passengers may have been told about life jacket use, she said. The boat was required to carry one life jacket per person aboard, but their use was not required.
 
   ☆  life jacket 救生衣

The 36-foot Seaport Taxi pontoon boat was certified to give 30-minute tours between several points of interest and was on one of its regular loops around the harbor when the accident occurred.

"It would be required to have either a lengthy safety education briefing at the beginning or a combination summary verbal education at the beginning and placards about [the life jackets'] use," Conners said.

"We'll also be looking at the policies, procedures, training for the crew, and the actual implementation of the policies," she said.

The boat's condition and maintenance record, and the operator's safety record, would also come under scrutiny, Conners said. Five other vessels operated by Seaport Taxi will also be inspected, she added.

Goodwin said the water taxis on Baltimore Harbor have an excellent safety record, ferrying about 70,000 people per year for at least a decade with no accidents until this one.

Goodwin said the storm that blew over the harbor Saturday afternoon was freakish.

"It seems to be somewhat of an anomaly that happened yesterday that no one took notice of until after the accident," he said. "There was a brief warning and then some sort of cell passed over the harbor from the northwest, winds 50 miles per hour, and then it passed over. As quick as it came it was over."

CNN's Kathleen Koch contributed to this report.