An architecture tour along the Chicago River turned ugly as 120 passengers aboard a yacht were bombarded with human waste. From MSNBC
The waste was released from a "large black coach bus," as it crossed the bridge at 430 W. Grand Av. and "kept on driving" around 1:20 p.m. Sunday, police News Affairs Officer Alice Casanova said.
Five people were taken from yacht Chicago Little Lady to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, treated and released, Casanova said. They were treated for exposure to E. coli and other forms of bacteria, she added.
Bastiaan Bouma, vice president of marketing and tours for the Chicago Architecture Foundation, which runs the river tour, clarified earlier reports from police that mentioned the Chicago First Lady yacht.
The yacht was in the middle of an architectural tour, which was abruptly interrupted, Casanova said.
The yacht took passengers aboard at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive.
While the tour officials still were "not precisely sure" what occurred, what is known is that a liquid was splashed on the yacht passengers as they passed under the Kinzie Street bridge and that at that moment or just before some buses had passed by overhead, Bouma said.
"All we know is that we weren't responsible," Bouma said. In the 50 years that the tours have been in operation, there has never been a similar incident, he added.
The license plate numbers of the buses were captured, apparently by guests or staff on the boat, and that information was turned over to police, Bouma said. He had no information as of 10:45 a.m. if the buses had been identified.
Police News Affairs Officer Laura Kubiak said as of that time that police had not yet tracked down the buses or determined to which company they belonged.
"Our main concern is the safety and welfare of our guests," Bouma said. He did not know how many people were hit by the liquid, but said most of the 120 guests on the sold-out tour sit on the exposed upper deck.
All of the passengers were given refunds for their $25 tickets, and those who asked to be rebooked on later tours were given open-ended tickets, Bouma said. The foundation also gave some passengers cab fare or promised to pay dry-cleaning bills, he said.
The liquid was spilled about 20 minutes after the 1 p.m. tour began, as the boat moved north on the North Branch of the Chicago River, Bouma said. The boat turned around immediately and headed back to the dock, he said.
Bouma did not know how much the incident cost the foundation.
5 Comments
photo thanks to mother tribune
i think we chicagettes have enough shit spew from our mouths on archinect and stick to the non-physical type.
it is a great tour put on by the chicago arch foundation ...i recomend it....bring an umbrella.... i guess.
i heard on the radio that 10 people had already filed law suits....god bleass america!!!
....Fitzpatrick confirmed he was in Chicago with Matthews, whose band played the second of two shows at Alpine Valley in Wisconsin later that night. But the driver said he was parked in front of the Peninsula Hotel, 108 E. Superior St., when the waste rained down from the bridge several blocks away.
"There is no way I could be responsible for that," Fitzpatrick said from downstate Effingham. "I haven't emptied the tank for days. Besides, we are very cautious about how we do that sort of thing."
To bolster his case, Fitzpatrick coaxed Sgt. Paul Gardner of the Effingham Police Department to inspect the bus. He then gave Gardner his cell phone to tell a reporter that the tank was nearly full.
"One of the strangest requests I've ever had, that's for sure," Gardner said.
A publicist for the Dave Matthews Band issued a statement Monday night saying the group's management had "determined that all of the buses on our tour were parked at the time of this incident."
It was another driver for the band. I hope they are all thrown in prison and our cities and towns are never again subjected to that horrible music.
wasnt dave mathews band tour bus charged with it?
Block this user
Are you sure you want to block this user and hide all related comments throughout the site?
Archinect
This is your first comment on Archinect. Your comment will be visible once approved.