Compensation offer to Shrewsbury explosion victims
Monday 11th April 2011, 8:07AM BST.
Victims of the Shrewsbury blast which rocked the town centre more than a year ago are to be offered compensation, it was announced today.
National Grid and BT have agreed to pay compensation to the 11 victims, including five who were seriously hurt.
The firms said the exact amount was still to be finalised but the victims had been offered settlements.
Neither company admits liability for the explosion.
The blast happened on January 3 last year on the corner of Bridge Street and Smithfield Road.
Flatmates Sarah Pearse, Scott Godbold and Sam Devine-Turner, along with their friend Annie Davies, all suffered burns while pantomime star Kiley McDonnell was left paralysed from the waist down.
A joint statement said: “National Grid and BT have agreed to pay compensation to those people who were injured following the gas explosion in Shrewsbury in January 2010.
“The explosion caused injury to members of the public and destroyed a property in Bridge Street. An investigation carried out by the Health & Safety Executive concluded that neither company was responsible for causing the explosion.
“However, the two companies recognise the victims have suffered considerable hardship and injury and do not want to prolong their suffering. Therefore, it has been agreed that compensation will be paid to the victims while the issue of liability is determined.
“Both National Grid and BT will continue to talk to the victims in a bid to reach a satisfactory settlement.”
Jeremy Taylor, partner at Wace Morgan solicitors in Shrewsbury, who is representing several of the victims, said the firms would deal with the claims but warned final figures were still a “long way off”.
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