PORTLAND – A lawsuit filed against Daimler-Chrysler Corp. contending that design defects caused a 15-passenger van to roll over and kill 14 migrant workers in northern Maine two years ago has been delayed.

A trial was originally set for October but was postponed until next February because the fact-finding phase of the trial is not complete, according to the plaintiffs’ law firm, Searcy, Denney, Scarola, Barnhart & Shipley.

The lawsuit – which was filed on behalf of the lone crash survivor and 70 family members of 13 victims who drowned after their van drove off a bridge and into the Allagash Wilderness Waterway – has yet to go before a jury.

Representatives from the West Palm Beach, Fla., personal injury firm will fly to Honduras on Sunday to take depositions from the families of nine victims, said Emilio Diamantis, a paralegal working on the case.

The family of the 10th victim from Honduras, the driver, has retained another firm. Searcy also is representing the families of four Guatemalan victims and the crash’s sole survivor. Depositions in Guatemala have not been scheduled yet.

The law firm had hoped to bring its clients to the United States for the trial, but could not get permission. The office of Maine Sen. Olympia Snowe asked federal authorities to consider the families’ requests for visas, but applications were denied.

The lawsuit, filed in state district court in Pryor, Okla., asks Daimler-Chrysler to recall or retrofit its 15-passenger vans to make them safer and also seeks unspecified monetary damages, Jeff Wigington, an attorney in Corpus Christi, Texas, said.

Among its contentions are that design defects in the 15-passenger van caused it to roll over.

Attorneys in Honduras plan to videotape testimony to show months later during the trial. Up to 18 relatives are expected to travel to the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa to give depositions, Diamantis said.

Daimler-Chrysler Corp. spokesman Mike Aberlich could not confirm whether attorneys would be in Honduras.

Thrifty Car Rental spokesman Jason Logan declined to comment on pending litigation. Thrifty is charged with renting the vehicle for use in an area that made it susceptible to rollovers.