Third incident involving a DUKW vehicle in 2013
Last weekend, we reported on one of Boris Johnson’s new Route Master buses causing a six-vehicle pile up in Chelsea. Today, it was the turn of a London Duck Tour DUKW vehicle named Cleopatra to endanger the lives of those who’d paid upto £65 to take a trip along the Thames.
The bright yellow vehicle – which seats upto 30 people – set alight at around midday close to Lambeth Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. As fire “ripped through the tour vessel” many passengers were forced to jump into the river and though there were no major injuries, seven people are now being treated for smoke inhalation and two others suffered minor injuries.
This is not the first time that DUKW tour vessels have malfunctioned. One sank in Liverpool’s Albert Dock in June whilst another sank in the nearby Salthouse Dock in March.
Plainly these elderly vehicles have had their day. We’d advise our readers to steer clear. They’d do better not to Duck.
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