City Considering Memorial For 2 Students Who Died In 2010 Duck Boat Crash
By Mike Dunn
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- One day after the dramatic resolution of the civil trial over the 2010 "Duck Boat" accident on the Delaware River that claimed the lives of two young students (see related story), we have details of an effort to memorialize those victims.
Bob Mongeluzzi, attorney for the families of the two Hungarian students who died in the collision, says the parents conceived of a permanent memorial when they laid wreaths at Penn's Landing. All they want, he says, is a bench in their memory.
"These are modest people, working people from Hungary. They're not asking for some fancy memorial. They're asking for a simple bench in memory of their children," Mongeluzzi explained.
A formal request will be sent to Mayor Michael Nutter, and his chief of staff, Everett Gillison, said the city is willing to consider it.
"We'll absolutely consider all requests that are made," Gillison told KYW Newsradio today. "Obviously this was a tragedy for all of us, we were all affected. And this kind of memorializing I think would be appropriate. But we'll look at it and see what we could come up with."
Mongeluzzi says the cost of the memorial should not be an issue.
"I'd be happy to bear the cost if the city didn't want to do it themselves."
Under the settlement, the companies that owned the duck boat and the tug boat will pay the families $15 million, and the survivors will share $2 million.
