NOME -- Two high school students, through adult representatives, are suing Arctic Sea Mining LLC for injuries they suffered during a 2018 accident involving a steel cable stretched across a road in Nome.
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Myron Angstman, an attorney representing one of the plaintiffs, says pictures of the vehicle during the incident from last year are graphic.
“The cable that they hit came over the front of their car and basically leveled the cab, not completely but it mangled the cab, and they were in the cab of course. …So it was not a pretty sight.”
According to the complaint, recently filed with Alaska Superior Court, two minors were driving down Port Road in Nome on Oct. 26, 2018, when their vehicle struck steel cables that were attached to a large marine vessel. One end of the cable was hooked up to a loader and the other was attached to the gold dredge Myrtle Irene.
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The plaintiffs claim Arctic Sea Mining, Ken Kerr’s company which owns the Myrtle Irene, failed to warn them of the cables’ presence in the middle of Port Road. The students are suing for an amount in excess of $100,000.
Attempts to reach Kerr by email and phone were unsuccessful.
Angstman says that more than a year later, the plaintiffs are still recovering from their injuries.
“It was a significant accident, and both of them suffered blows to the head of varying degrees. And the progress of the recovery is uncertain at this time.”
According to Angstman, the court has not yet sent a response to their complaint, and he estimates it could be a year before the case goes to trial, if it is not settled before then.
This article was first published at KNOM.org and is republished here with permission.