Associated Press - October 20, 2009 6:15 PM ET

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - A jury in Cheyenne must decide whether a 2006 rafting accident that killed three people on the Snake River was strictly a tragic accident or the result of a private company's negligence.

Lawyers gave opening statements Tuesday in a federal lawsuit that relatives of the three victims have filed against the Grand Teton Lodge Company. The private company offers lodging, rafting and other services in Grand Teton National Park.

Mel Orchard, lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the jury the company was responsible for underplaying the danger of river rafting.

But Maryjo Falcone, lawyer for the lodge company, told the jury the deaths were a tragic accident for which no one is to blame.

The three passengers died when the raft hit a log and dumped them into the river.

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