By Staff
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Devastation from the fatal Duck bus collision on the Aurora Bridge. (Photo from Seattle Fire Department)
Four of the dozens of victims of the 2015 Ride the Ducks crash in Seattle have reached an $8.25 million settlement in the middle of a civil trial ongoing in King County Superior Court.
Attorney Lara Herrmann said on Nov. 8 that $7 million will go to the family of 18-year-old Privando Putradanto, an Indonesian student who was killed in the accident. The other settlements included $600,000 to Jae Won Jang, a college student who suffered permanent injuries to his back, neck, and shoulder; $375,000 to Florencia Irena, another Indonesian student who suffered a fractured collarbone; and $275,000 to Na Ra Yoon, a Korean student who suffered broken bones in both her hands.
Five people were killed and dozens injured on Sept. 15, 2015, when one of the Ride the Ducks boats careened into oncoming traffic on the Aurora Bridge, slamming into a tour bus full of foreign students. An investigation showed an axle on the Duck boat had broken.
Herrmann said the settlement represented “fair compensation” to the victims and, as importantly, showed their families and countrymen from Indonesia and South Korea that justice can be sought and achieved for anyone in the American judicial system.
The settlement involves Ride the Ducks Seattle and Ride The Ducks International only, and that the victims’ claims against the city of Seattle and the state of Washington remain active.
The trial, which is expected to last several more months, is ongoing in superior court.