French Concordia survivors get €2m payout

AFP - The owner of the Costa Concordia cruise liner that ran aground off northwest Italy in January has paid more than two million euros to French survivors in a settlement, their lawyer said Tuesday.

Costa Crociere, owned by US giant Carnival Corp., paid 9,000 euros ($11,700) each to 235 survivors, their lawyer Bernard Courtois told AFP.

Thirty-two people were killed when Costa Concordia capsized on January 13 with some 3,200 passengers aboard.

Out of these, 456 were French and 180 of them had accepted a payment of 11,000 euros each from the company in exchange for dropping any legal action; some 20 joined a class-action suit in the United States and another 20 are pursuing legal action independently, Courtois said.

The settlement agreed by the 235 remaining survivors was paid by the company on May 4, he said, adding that the settlement did not preclude further legal action.

"There is no renunciation of anything, they can sue the company if they decide to do so," he said.

Costa Crociere faces scores of lawsuits by the survivors of the disaster while prosecutors in Italy are investigating nine people including the captain and three executives.