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“No Excuses from Boat Operators”, Reaction to Duck Boat Tragedy

A duck boat with 31 people on board capsized and sank to the bottom of Table Rock Lake in Missouri during a severe thunderstorm on Thursday, resulting in one of the deadliest boat accidents in American history. There were official weather warnings before the operators of this boat took it onto the lake with the lives they were responsible for. The Associated Press reports that “a private inspector said ….that he warned the company operating duck boats…about design flaws putting the watercraft at greater risk of sinking, less than a year before the accident.”

Tia Coleman lost 10 of her loved ones in that tragedy, including three children, her husband and five other members of her family.

Michael Haggard, the Managing Partner of the Haggard Law Firm says his law firm prays for the families that have suffered so much from the tragedy.

He added, “It is unfathomable that a maritime commercial operator can claim that severe thunderstorms, extremely high winds, and unsafe water conditions can come out of nowhere. With today’s GPS and Radar technology, this is simply not the case. This vessel should have never been allowed to go on this trip.” The Duck Boat operators, like any business owners, are responosible for the safety of their customers/guests. The Haggard Law FIrm has an extensive history of successfully litigating cases where business owners do not take every needed step to keep customer safe as well as maritime and drowning cases.

“This is was an absolutely preventable tragedy that one can only hope changes the standards, oversite and design of this or any other type of similar vessel.

to read full article from Associated Press, click here

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