On June 24, 2021, half of a 12-story beachside condo building in Surfside, Florida collapsed, killing 98 people. At a court hearing on Wednesday, families of victims of the devastating event reached a $997 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit, according to multiple reports.
The settlement is still pending the final approval, as it also includes insurance companies and developers of an adjacent building, in addition to other defendants, according to the Associated Press.
The hearing took place before Judge Michael A. Hanzman of the Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County, who expressed his pleasure with the result of the settlement. He had previously approved a $83 million settlement for condo unit owners to split up due to property loses after the collapse.
“I’m shocked by this result — I think it’s fantastic,” Hanzman said, according to The New York Times. "This is a recovery that is far in excess of what I had anticipated."
Hanzman added in court that he aims at finalizing the settlement by the one-year anniversary next month. The payouts for the settlement would be made by the fall, according to ABC News.
"My goal was to do everything humanly possible to conclude this case by the first anniversary of the collapse," Hanzman said.
The Champlain Towers South condo was located about six miles north of Miami Beach, and about 55 out of the 136 units were destroyed when it collapsed at around 1:15 a.m. Rescuers took weeks sifting through the rubble to recover and identify the remains of victims.
When the collapse occurred, the Champlain Towers were in the process of its mandated inspection and 40-year structural review. There was also luxury building, Eighty Seven Park, being built next door, as plaintiffs in the lawsuit argued that the Champlain Towers were damaged by construction work from Eighty Seven Park. The developers and contractors of the luxury building denied those claims.
Judd Rosen, a lead attorney on the case, spoke to ABC News and said the record-setting settlement amount "represents accountability from a lot of different players."
"It's the largest settlement from a single incident in U.S. history," Rosen said. "The number itself implies significant accountability on what happened."
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