Victims of the collapse of a Surfside, Florida condominium tower that killed 98 people last year have reached a $997 million settlement with insurers, developers and other defendants in the case, the lead plaintiffs’ attorney said on Wednesday, according to Reuters.
The agreement, which still must be finalized and approved by a Miami-Dade County judge, would compensate family members of those who died in the disaster as well as residents who were injured or lost their homes.
“Our clients are a victim of a tragedy. If you lost a loved one no amount of money (is enough),” attorney Harley Tropin said. “But the clients are pleased with this recovery. Really pleased.”
During the hearing, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Michael Hanzman told both sides he hoped to have the case resolved by the one-year anniversary of the collapse on June 24, according to the Miami Herald.
Champlain Towers was in the midst of its 40-year structural review when it collapsed without warning in the early morning hours of June 24, 2021, killing 98 people. The incident is one of the deadliest accidental building collapses in US history.
Federal investigators have not formally concluded what caused the building to fall apart but the towers, which were built in 1981, had faced years of scrutiny over its deteriorating condition.
A lawsuit filed this past November says that construction of a luxury building next door triggered the collapse of the building.