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.