Missouri duck boat crash: Family of victims from boat capsizing sue operator for $100m

The duck tours have been suspended in Missouri following the incident (AP)

A duck boat operator has been sued for $100m in damages after a ship of theirs capsized in a lake, killing 17 passengers.

The wrongful death lawsuit follows after one of the duck boats sank July 19 on a lake near Branson, Missouri. There were 31 people on board at the time.

"The canopy of the Duck Boat entrapped passengers and dragged them to the bottom of the lake," the lawsuit says. For two decades "defendants had been repeatedly told to change the design of their Duck Boats to make them safe, but they entirely ignored these warnings".

The doomed duck boat tour, operated by Ride the Ducks Branson, embarked on its final trip on Table Rock Lake as a severe thunderstorms sent intense winds and waves through the area. The victims included individuals between the ages of one and 76, and nine people of the Coleman family died together on that tour.

The lawsuit was brought forward by administrators of the estates of two members of the Coleman family who died — Ervin Coleman and Maxwell Ly. The lawsuit was filed Sunday in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Alongside Ride the Ducks Branson, several other organisations — Ripley Entertainment, Ride the Ducks International, Herschend Family Entertainment, and Amphibious Vehicle Manufacturing — are accused in the lawsuit of knowing in advance of the tragedy that the Duck Boat industry and its fleet was "entirely unfit to be used for any purpose and had previously been responsible for dozens of deaths".

"This tragedy was the predictable and predicted result of decades of unacceptable, greed-driven, and willful ignorance of safety by the Duck Boat industry in the face of specific and repeated warnings that their Duck Boats are death traps for passengers and pose grave danger to the public on water and on land" the lawsuit says.

When contacted requesting comment, a spokesperson for Ripley Entertainment said: "We remain deeply saddened by the tragic accident that occurred in Branson and we are supportive of the affected families. The investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board is still underway and no conclusions have been reached. We cannot comment at this time".

A recorded message for Ride the Ducks Branson also indicated that the company is saddened, and that the Branson operation will remain closed as the company works to help the families impacted.

CNN reports that none of the victims were wearing life jackets when they were found dead, even though the duck boat that capsized contained life jackets. Those passengers were not required to be wearing the life jackets, according to Stone County Sheriff Doug Rader.

The Missouri Attorney General, Josh Hawley, said that the state is investigating why the boat took a changed route on the day of the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board, as Ripley Entertainment noted, is investigating the cause of the catastrophe.