Updated at 7:13 p.m., Friday, November 9, 2007
Family of Maui girl who drowned files suit
Advertiser Staff
WAILUKU, Maui — The parents of one of two teenage girls who drowned while rafting in a Ha'iku irrigation ditch have sued ditch owner East Maui Irrigation Co.Cherie Hurd, 14, of Ha'iku, and Lucy Smith, 13, of Wailuku, died Sept. 23. Family members said the two King Kekaulike High School students went rafting in an area known as "Tubes" in Lowrie Ditch. It is still unclear how they got into trouble, but police said that one of the girls was sucked through a siphon, or pipeline, in the ditch and the other went through three siphons.
Their bodies were found about a mile apart.
A lawsuit filed Thursday by Wailuku attorney James Krueger on behalf of Hurd's parents, Theodore La Torre-Gomez and Katherine Louise Hurd, claims the ditch "constituted an attractive nuisance." The complaint alleges the dangerous condition of the ditch was known to EMI, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, before Sept. 23.
EMI President Garret Hew yesterday issued a statement expressing condolences to the girls' families. He said the company had not seen the lawsuit "and will not speculate about any allegations made."
The statement also said, "The EMI ditch system has been a part of the Maui community for over 130 years and has played a vital role in providing water necessary for our local community, and we will continue to work with the community in promoting ditch safety."
