Another civil suit has been filed against Branson Duck Boat operator Ripley Entertainment.
The CBS affiliate in St. Louis reports Jennifer Asher, daughter of 69-year-old William Asher, who died in last month’s tragedy on Table Rock Lake near Branson, alleges that Duck Boats caused, “Numerous fatalities and injuries for almost twenty years due to dangerous design of the canopy.”
Asher also cites Duck Boats, “Lack of safety training and/or procedures for its employees and lack of safety training and/or procedures to its passengers.”
The Asher family is seeking $75,000 in damages. Their lawsuit joins two others filed in federal court in Kansas City.
The two others represent the estates of four members of the Coleman family of Indianapolis, Indiana which lost a total of nine relatives who died when the Duck Boat sank July 19th. One of those court cases seeks $100 million in damages.
Still another lawsuit was brought by the three daughters of a couple from western Missouri’s Higginsville who were killed in the incident. That case was filed in Taney County Circuit Court in southwest Missouri.
Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard has referred its investigation of the incident to federal investigators for possible criminal offenses, according to the Kansas City Star.
Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley’s office is also examining whether any state laws were violated when boat personnel decided to go on the water minutes before a severe thunderstorm with hurricane-force winds struck the lake.
Missourinet media partner KOLR-TV contributed to this report
