Relatives of seven people who drowned in waters off a Georgia island after a ferry dock walkway collapsed announced Wednesday they filed a lawsuit against the companies that designed and built it.
Attorneys for the families of those killed and more than three dozen survivors say the 80-foot walkway was weak because of a lack of structural reinforcement, poor welding, and failure by the Georgia firm that built it to follow design plans.
The Department of Natural Resources, which is not a target of the suit, said the walkway should have been able to support the weight of 320 people.
There were 40 people standing on it when it gave way. Filed in Gwinnett County State Court in metro Atlanta, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for negligence, wrongful deaths, and personal injuries.
