New York agrees 9/11 dust payout

New York City has agreed to pay up to $657m (£437m) to thousands of rescue and clean-up workers at the 9/11 attacks Ground Zero site.

The settlement would compensate more than 10,000 plaintiffs who say they were made sick by dust from the collapsed World Trade Center towers.

At least 95% of the plaintiffs must approve the deal for it to take effect.

The money would come from a federally-financed insurance fund of $1.1bn that the city controls.

A claims adjudicator, chosen by the lawyers involved in the case, would decide on the validity of each plaintiff’s claim and how much compensation they are entitled to.

In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the settlement "a fair and reasonable resolution to a complex set of circumstances".

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