Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Financial settlement nears for victims of Lac-Mégantic rail disaster


Smoke and fire rises at night over the town of Lac-Mégantic after a train carrying crude oil derailed and exploded in the town of Lac-Mégantic, 270 kilometres east of Montreal on Saturday, July 6, 2013.
Dario Ayala / Montreal Gazette File Photo

Victims of the 2013 rail disaster in Lac-Mégantic will be consulted in the coming days on a $300-million financial settlement that is being proposed by the railway company that was involved.

The Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada Co. announced by news release on Friday that it will hold information sessions on the compensation package at the Centre sportif Mégantic in Lac-Mégantic on May 27 and on June 3 to explain the details.

 Victims or their designated relatives will be asked to vote on the package on June 9. Victims were mailed detailed packages, the news release said.

Victims claiming post-traumatic stress have until Aug. 31 to fill out a medical claim form.

If the victims and their representatives approve the package, and if the package is then approved by the courts in Canada and the United States, disbursements will be made in October/November 2015, the release said.

Families of victims of the July 6, 2013 disaster filed wrongful death lawsuits against the railway company, its insurer, rail-car manufacturers and some oil producers following the derailment that set off explosions and fire that killed 47 people and wiped out the town’s downtown.