A Missouri judge dismissed charges against the operators of a Branson, Missouri duck boat company which ran a boat that capsized in 2018 during a thunderstorm, killing 17, the New York Times report.
Judge Alan Blankenship, a Republican, determined that insufficient evidence existed to prove the operators of the ride should have known that dangers of an approaching serious thunderstorm when the ride took off on July 19, 2019 with 31 people on board.
Waves on Table Rock Lake swamped the boat, sinking it. People on the shore could hear the screams of passengers as the boat sank. Ride the Ducks Branson claimed that the weather information source it used, Earth Networks, did not specifically state there were high winds associated with the storm.