Duck Boat Captain Files Lawsuit
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - In the latest chapter of the duck boat crash that killed two people in July, the captain of the duck boat has filed a lawsuit.
Gary Fox, the captain of the duck boat, has filed a lawsuit against K-Sea Transportation Partners of East Brunswick, N.J. and the city of Philadelphia.
"Ride the Ducks" has been shut down since July 7, when a duck boat with 37 people onboard was run over by a city-owned sludge barge and sank in the Delaware River. Two Hungarian tourists, Dora Schwendtner, 16, and Szabolcs Prem, 20, died.
K-Sea Transportation was operating the tugboat that was guiding the barge through the Delaware.
In the lawsuit, Captain Fox recounts the horrifying moments leading up to the 290 foot long barge slamming into his stalled duck boat full of passengers.
The lawsuit claims Fox radioed the tugboat multiple times to change its course, but he got no response.
The lawsuit reads: "K-Sea Transportation negligently and carelessly caused the barge to violently impact the stern of Duck Boat 34."
Fox and the other passengers were tossed into the river and Fox claims in the lawsuit that he sustained injuries to his body that may be permanent.
Fox says he is suffering from physical and emotional distress and is no longer able to work. He is seeking fair and reasonable compensation claiming both the city of Philadelphia and K-Sea Transportation violated numerous maritime laws which lead to the deadly accident.
The families of Schwendtner and Prem have filed wrongful death lawsuits.
