Families of two crew members killed in a barge collision on the Mississippi River have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the boats’ owners.
Matthew Brigalia and Shawn Pucheu were among three crew members whose bodies were never recovered after their barge sank the river after the crash Jan. 26 in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.
A wrongful death suit filed by Brigalia and Pucheu’s families in New Orleans says the collision was preventable and the vessels involved weren’t seaworthy.
David Flotte, an attorney for one of the barge owners, said he company is cooperating with investigators bu declined to comment further. An attorney for the company that owns the vessel the men served aboard did not immediately return a phone message.