Shintech Louisiana LLC named two workers who were killed in a plant accident Sunday.  Tommy Rivet, a Shintech employee and Tory Sanchez, who worked for Performance Contractors, Inc., died after they were overcome by chemical fumes at the Shintech facility south of Plaquemine.   Plant manager David Wise said Sanchez had gone into a container to...

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A California man is the sole confirmed fatality in a deadly fishing boat accident off Baja California.  At least seven people are still missing.   The missing tourists were part of a fishing expedition in Mexico, when their vessel overturned in the early hours of Saturday morning.  The Mexican Navy and the US Coast Guard are continuing efforts t...

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The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final findings after an investigation into the 2009 boating accident in the San Diego Bay that killed a young boy.  According to the report, the accident was the result of excessive speeds by the Coast Guard boat involved in the accident as well as lack of oversight by the Coast Guard. T...

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A 27 year-old recreational diver went missing Sunday, July 24, 2011, off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts.  The diver was part of a group aboard the dive charter vessel John Jack.  The dive group was exploring the wreckage of the Andrea Doria.   The Andrea Doria lies in about 200 feet of water.  It is an Italian luxury vessel which sank a...

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Tug boat pilot, Matthew Devlin, pled guilty to an involuntary manslaughter charge on Monday, August 1, 2011.  Two tourists died from the accident on July 7, 2010, when a barge crashed into a duck boat that was stalled in the Delaware River.  The operator did not receive notice that the duck boat was stopped in his path because he had turned his ...

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A crane collapsed while loading equipment onto a work boat, according to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement report.  On Tuesday, August 16, 2011, the boom hoist cable failed, killing one worker on the site in the Gulf of Mexico.  The platform, owned by Energy Resource Technology, is now the site of an investigation...

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The man killed in an offshore crane accident on Tuesday has been identified as  20-year-old Brandon Noland.  The Katy resident died at the platform where he was working that morning after a crane collapsed and hit him.  The autopsy released by the medical examiner's office stated that he died of blunt-force trauma from a crushing injury. By fol...

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Four people have been confirmed dead in an offshore helicopter crash off the coast of Brazil.  The helicopter had just taken off from a drilling platform located in the Atlantic Ocean when it crashed killing a pilot, co-pilot and two subcontractors. The platform was operated by Brazilian company, Petrobras.  According to news accounts, the pilo...

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A fire on a Norwegian cruise ship led to the deaths of two crewmembers, and evacuation of passengers on board.   The incident occurred last week, on the MS Nordly. The ship was sailing with 260 people on board, including crewmembers.  The fire broke out in the engine room and quickly spread.  Once it became clear that the fire was out of contro...

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The body of a shrimper, who disappeared after a maritime accident in Cocodrie, Louisiana has now been found. The accident occurred last week when a 25-foot shrimp boat collided with a aluminum hull vessel.  According to authorities, the accident occurred near the Houma Navigation Canal and Bayou Little Caillou. A seventy-three man on the shrimp...

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An elderly woman died and seven other people were rescued after their boat capsized in the Florida Keys last weekend. The 8 people were on a 22-foot pleasure craft and were out on a fishing trip, when a large wave swamped their boat.  Three of the men, who could not swim and were not wearing personal flotation devices, held on to the side of th...

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Families of seamen killed in the course of work may have legal recourse under U.S. maritime laws. The circumstances will determine which laws you are able to file claims under.  If your loved one was killed at sea while working, an experienced maritime lawyer can help determine your rights and assist you in deciding whether to file a claim. Wh...

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Toys, hearing aids, remote controls -- these all seem like safe items, but tonight at 10 p.m. on Houston's Channel 2 News learn why button batteries that power these devices can be dangerous for your children. Button batteries, sometimes known as disc batteries, are often not thought to be choking hazards, but swallowing them can cause serious ...

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On Houston’s Channel 2 News last night, a family shared a terrifying story.At dinner one night, Mark and Susan Sadauskas’ 1-year-old son Mark threw up after only eating a few bites. His father said that had never happened before. His mother recalled finding an old remote control on the floor earlier -- the remote had contained a small button bat...

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A 57 year old American passenger on a cruise vessel has been confirmed dead after a gastroenteritis outbreak on the vessel. The death occurred on the MS Veendam operated by Holland America, and occurred when the vessel was docked at a port at Rio de Janeiro. Earlier, at least 87 passengers on the vessel had fallen sick with a bout of stomach fl...

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The Death on the High Seas Act is a set of maritime laws that provides compensation for family members of seamen killed in international waters. Under the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA), survivors of a seaman, who is killed at least three miles off US waters due to negligence, may be eligible for compensation. However, there are certain res...

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Five more bodies were found Tuesday, bringing the total dead to 11 after the Costa Concordia hit rocks and capsized Friday off the Italian coast. The search for missing continued as navy explosives experts blasted a hole in the vessel’s hull to provide access to search-and-rescue teams. The ship’s captain was still in jail as investigators cont...

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The search for missing passengers off the Italian coast amid the wreckage of the Costa Concordia was suspended Wednesday after the ship shifted on the rocks, making the situation too dangerous for rescue workers. Since the luxury liner crashed into rocks and capsized Friday, 11 people have been confirmed dead, and 23 are still missing. Salvage ...

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Rescue operations again were suspended Friday after the stricken Costa Concordia shifted in choppy seas off the Italian coast, increasing concerns about a possible fuel leak. Eleven people have been confirmed dead and at least 22 are still missing after the cruise liner struck rocks and capsized off the coast of the tiny island of Giglio. Also...

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A man died after being injured late Saturday night in an industrial accident in Texas City. It appears Virgel James Stoker, 26, was injured while working on industrial equipment used to package products at the Dallas Group of America Inc.’s facility at the Port of Texas City. He died shortly after being taken to the hospital. The Galveston Cou...

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Children, especially babies and toddlers, are known for putting things in their mouths. Choking is not the only hazard to be wary of when your child has ingested something he should not -- the number of button battery injuries from accidental swallowing is increasing across the U.S., and these can be a serious, even fatal, events.More than 3,500...

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A scientific panel is recommending that U.S. offshore drilling companies take a more systematic approach to offshore safety in order to prevent a disaster like the BP oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last year.  The recommendations were made by the National Academy of Engineering and National Research Council. In a new report, the two ag...

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Prosecutors in Utah are likely to file charges against three men in the death of a scientist who was killed in a boating accident in August. The men are likely to be charged with several misdemeanor counts, including those related to obstruction of justice and failure to render aid. The accident occurred on August 21, when University of Utah Sc...

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If you have been injured in a maritime accident or perhaps been the victim of a crime while on a cruise, the matter of which court has jurisdiction will be particularly important to you.Jurisdiction concerns which court or courts have authority to hear a criminal or civil case, and this can be quite complex when it comes to maritime claims. A ma...

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Victims’ families, child safety groups, and Houston car accident lawyers, who have been waiting for a rule that would require automakers to install rearview cameras to prevent collisions with child pedestrians, are very disappointed with the delay in finalizing the rule. The Department of Transportation has announced that it requires more time t...

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According to the International Maritime Pilots Association, a ship pilot was killed recently during a fall accident on a vessel. The 58-year-old pilot was on a vessel that was sailing on the River Elbe. At the time of the accident, the pilot was attempting to board the boat. He had been standing on a ladder, when he slipped and fell into the wat...

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A tugboat pilot convicted in the July 2010 crash of a barge and tour boat that left two Hungarian tourists dead said in a deposition that the collision could have been avoided if he had been at his post. Matt Devlin, who is serving a one-year sentence for the maritime equivalent of involuntary manslaughter, was on a cellphone for a family emerg...

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A new study reported in the medical journal Pediatrics today says there were nearly 66,000 battery-related emergency room visits by children younger than 18 between 1990 and 2009. The study also said the number reported annual more than doubled -- from 2,591 to 5,525 -- by 2009, with button batteries accounting for 84% of battery-related ER visi...

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A crew member has been reported killed in a deadly fire that raged through a tugboat near Prince Edward Point, Ontario. According to earlier news reports, the man, a chief engineer on the vessel, had sustained serious injuries. He has now succumbed to those injuries. At the time of the accident, there were six people on the vessel, including th...

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The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration and BP announced a partial settlement stemming from safety violations the company’s Texas City refinery was cited for in 2009. BP was fined $87.4 million in 2009 due to a series of safety violations, mostly stemming from changes not made at the plant after a fatal 2005 explosion. BP will pa...

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Investigators are looking into the cause of a Hong Kong ferry boat collision that left 38 people dead, including five children, earlier this week. A high-speed ferry and a boat loaded with more than 120 people crashed during a holiday weekend, and the smaller vessel sank quickly.The maritime accident, which occurred on a clear night, is Hong Kon...

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BP has agreed to plead guilty to felony charges, as well as pay $4.5 billion in penalties, in relation to the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion that left 11 workers dead and resulted in a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.The oil giant announced it would plead guilty to 11 felony counts of “misconduct or neglect of ships officers” in ...

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Two BP workers have been charged in the deaths of 11 people in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Robert Kaluza and Donald Vidrine, the highest-ranking BP employees aboard the Deepwater Horizon when the explosion occurred, have been charged with manslaughter, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday. They are accuse...

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Research reported Monday shows a drop in child car accident deaths, particularly among 6- and 7-year-olds, as most U.S. states have enacted laws requiring booster seats for children who have outgrown traditional carseats. The booster seats position older children correctly so that seatbelts go across the shoulder (not the neck) and the lapbelt ...

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The widow of an Illinois State Police trooper who was struck and killed by a tractor-trailer during a traffic stop in November has filed a lawsuit against the company and the driver. Kyle Deatherage, 32, was standing along an interstate when he was hit. He died instantly. The wrongful death and misconduct lawsuit claims the driver should never ...

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At least 12 have been reported dead as the hostage crisis continues at a BP gas plant in Algeria, including Texas resident Frederick Buttaccio. It is unclear how Buttaccio died during the standoff, but U.S. officials have said his remains had been recovered and family notified. More than a dozen al-Qaeda-linked armed militants attacked the dese...

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One person is dead and another injured after an explosion and fire at the Air Liquide cylinder plant in La Porte, Texas, on Saturday. Fire investigators still are looking for the cause of the explosion at the plant, on Fairmont Parkway near Bay Area Boulevard. A company spokesman said 20 employees were inside at the time of the incident. One pe...

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Air Liquide has released the identity of a worker killed in an explosion at a La Porte plant on Saturday. Javier Ortiz was reported missing after the blast and was found by search crews after about 12 hours. Another employee remained hospitalized in serious but stable condition with burn injuries. Fire investigators were looking for the cause o...

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Five crewmembers were killed and three injured during a safety drill when a lifeboat from a cruise ship fell upside down into the sea earlier this month. The British-operated vessel was in port when the accident occurred, with about 1,400 passengers onboard. When emergency crews arrived on the scene, the small lifeboat could be seen capsized al...

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One sailor died and five others were rescued during a race off Southern California, authorities said Saturday. The crew radioed a mayday call Friday night when the the 32-foot Uncontrollable Urge lost steering capabilities. They also activated a feature on the boat that provided GPS coordinates and other information to authorities, but they dec...

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At least two were killed and dozens injured today when a charter bus crashed in Irving, Texas.  The Cardinal Coach bus was traveling east of Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport on State Highway 161, carrying 45 passengers, retired people on a gambling outing to a Choctaw casino in Oklahoma. The bus weaved across the highway, struck a concret...

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Police have managed to identify the man who was killed in a barge accident in New Jersey recently. The man was killed when he was pinned under a barge under Route 35 on the Sayreville side of the Morgan Bridge. The deceased was a US Marine veteran.  There are few details about how this accident occurred. Some reports have indicated that the man...

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A passenger who suffered several broken ribs in the fatal Irving, Texas, bus crash has filed a negligence lawsuit against the company operating the vehicle. The lawsuit, filed Monday, names Cardinal Coach Lines Inc., of Mansfield. The accident Thursday killed two passengers and injured more than 40. The charter bus was on its way to an Oklahoma...

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American lawmakers recently approved a plan that would cut as much as $50 million in highway safety grants made by the federal administration to states. That translates into significantly reduced funds for important highway safety campaigns, including those targeting drunk driving, motorcycle safety as well as distracted driving. The National H...

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Texas reported a slight drop in the number of teen drivers killed in accidents during the first half of 2012, compared to the same period of time the previous year. During the first 6 months of 2012, there were 14 car accident fatalities involving teenage motorists in the state of Texas. That was a drop from 17 fatalities during the first 6 mont...

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