Minors Suing Owner of Myrtle Irene for More Than $100,000

Two high school students, through adult representatives, are suing Arctic Sea Mining LLC for injuries they suffered during a car accident involving a steel cable stretched across a road in Nome.

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 the Alaska Superior Court, on October 26^th of 2018 two minors were driving down the Port Road in Nome 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, Mrytle Irene.

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 the Port Road. As such, the two high schoolers are suing for an amount in excess of $100,000. Kerr was unable to be reached for comment before the airing of this story.

Angstman says more than a year later, the plaintiffs are still recovering from the injuries they sustained during the accident.

“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.

Image at top: A vehicle after it struck the steel cable stretched across the Port Road during a car accident in October, 2018. Photo from Nome Police Department, used with permission.