Harrisburg Failed to Prevent Fatal 2023 Boating Accident

A lawsuit was filed against the city of Harrisburg on Wednesday, in relation to a tragic boat incident at the Dock Street Dam on the Susquehanna River. The incident resulted in the death of one individual and severe injury to another. The lawsuit alleges that the city was aware of the dangers posed by the dam but failed to take sufficient measures to prevent such accidents. According to attorney Devon Jacob, the incident occurred on April 13, 2023, when Michael Brook and Elijah Rothell were fishing in a designated recreation area on the river and their boat drifted into the exclusion zone near the dam. The lawsuit claims that the city is obligated under the Dam Safety Act to provide adequate warnings about the dangerous conditions in the water and to obtain permits for safety buoys from the Fish and Boat Commission, which they allegedly failed to do over the years. Jacob pointed out that this was not the first deadly incident at the dam, with over 30 fatalities directly attributed to the dam since its construction in 1913. The attorney states that previous incidents have also resulted in injuries that later led to deaths. The city was contacted for a response on the matter but has not yet provided any comment at the time of this writing.