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Jun 4, 2009 12:57 pm US/Central
Hurricane Rita Bus Fire Families Settle Lawsuits
HOUSTON (AP) ―
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Members of the Dallas Sheriff's Department inspect wreckage of a bus carrying Hurricane Rita evacuees that caught fire and exploded on Interstate 45 in Wilmer, Texas.
AP
The families of 23 nursing home patients who died in a bus explosion as they fled Hurricane Rita have reached settlements totaling $80 million.
The victims were residents of Brighton Gardens, a Houston-area assisted living community, which bused residents north as Rita approached the Texas coast in 2005. The vehicle was engulfed in flames and smoke after a rear wheel caught fire on a freeway near Dallas, killing those too frail to escape the bus on their own. Fourteen passengers survived.
Lawyers for the families said defendants included the bus company, the nursing home, and the bus manufacturer. Lawsuits against several remaining defendants, including the charter company and bus driver, are scheduled for trial in September.
(© 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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