Indiana State Fair accident: 90 submit claims for state payouts
The stage collapses at the Indiana State Fair on Aug. 13, 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The stage fell just before country duo Sugarland were scheduled to perform, killing seven people and injuring as many as 40 more.
Indiana’s attorney general’s office received 90 tort claims from victims of the Aug. 13 Indiana State Fair stage collapse by the deadline for such claims on Tuesday, the Indianapolis Star reported.
However, since state law caps state liability payouts at $5 million and individual payments at $700,000, it is unclear whether all victims will receive compensation from the state, according to the Indianapolis Star.
Seven fair-goers died after 70 miles-per-hour wind blew the stage roof and lighting scaffolding into an audience who’d been watching a concert.
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The attorney general's office has said that families of people who died and those who were seriously injured will get priority, The Associated Press reported.
Kenneth Allen, an attorney for the families of three people who died, told the Indianapolis Star that paying the maximum to the families of the seven people who died in the accident would cost $4.9 million, leaving only $100,000 to be divided among the rest.
The Indianapolis Star reported:
A charitable relief fund has already given more than $500,000 to some victims and still has a little less than $500,000 left. The deadline to submit claims to that fund is Nov. 14. Attorneys also are looking at the liability of others involved in the concert, including the band and the company that provided the stage.