Bellair president reacts to news of bus, “Ride the Ducks” crash

The youngest fatality is 17-year-old Runjie Song from China. School officials who earlier released the names of the other victims hadn’t given out the teen’s name because she was a minor.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said the city would examine the safety practices of the tour operator, and officials also will explore whether the lack of median barriers to separate opposing lanes of traffic on the George Washington Memorial Bridge-commonly known as the Aurora Bridge-contributed to the accident. The impact ripped open the bus and victims were strewn around the wreckage. Fox News reported that 51 other people were hurt in the crash.

Her father, 57-year-old Greg Moody, received cuts to his face.

Thirty-year-old Katie Moody, who suffered a broken clavicle, spoke to reporters from her hospital bed.

The family chose to take the duck boat tour while in town for a Seattle family member’s birthday.

“The vehicle involved in (the) crash was not part of the inspection sample in 2012”, Maxwell said in an email to The Seattle Times. The driver of the tour bus, owned by Bellair Charters & Airporter bus, reportedly told company officials it appeared the driver of the duck boat lost control before the crash, said Bellair President Richard Johnson.

Board member Earl Weener said at a news conference Friday that it’s scrutinized the military-style vehicles several times when they’ve been in accidents on water.

Scenes from the crash broadcast by local media show the crumpled front end of the white Ride the Ducks vehicle against the side of a charter bus.

Authorities say it’s too soon to determine what caused the crash that killed four students from Austria, China, Indonesia and Japan.

The independent federal agency has investigated amphibious crashes on water before Thursday, but never on land.

The crash between a Duck Boat and a motor coach killed four worldwide students from North Seattle College and injured dozens more.

Katie credits strangers for helping her family find each other on that bridge amid the chaos.

The students were set to begin their first quarter at the college on Monday.

Six teams from the National Transportation Safety Board are in Seattle to start what will likely be a long investigation into Thursday’s fatal crash on the Aurora Bridge involving a Duck Boat, a charter bus and two cars.

The Moody family was passing time while visiting their son in Seattle and chose to do all the typical tourist things. The students were riding on the charter bus en route to new student orientation events.

Students and faculty, some arm in arm, filed into a private memorial service in a lecture hall at a Seattle college Friday to honor the four students who died. Wu said when he learned of the accident, he came to the school. He said the NTSB was interested in duck-boat safety because such vehicles are operating in other cities.

Harborview Medical Center planned to treat up to 10 of the most seriously injured, spokeswoman Susan Gregg said.

Bloodworks Northwest, which supports 90 hospitals in the Northwest, had hundreds of people answer its appeal to donate blood, many waiting into the night at its centers, which include Central Seattle (921 Terry Ave.) and North Seattle (10357 Stone Ave. N.).

“The worldwide students that were coming here were really looking at the opportunity for higher education to change their lives and the quality of higher education here the Seattle area and it’s absolutely devastating that they would not have that opportunity”, North Seattle College President Warren Brown said.