By Madhuri Dey
New York, Mar 15, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A collective settlement of about $657 million has been allotted to the workers who had been present in the scene when the infamous 9/11 attacks took place in the United States. The settlement is called the Ground Zero Health Claim. The claims for the compensation had been brought by the workers, who had claimed that they had been suffering from a whole lot of chronic illnesses after inhaling the toxic ages and the huge amount of dust that caked the city after the attacks. The amount of the settlement, which will be divided among the 10,000-odd workers who had complained about the problems, has been reached with an insurer who represents the state of New York.

New York City had been sued, along with its contractors, by the thousands of workers, among them firefighters, who had been the most affected, contractors and the members of the police department, who had been present at the scene of the disaster, as they helped the others get out into safety. They had sued on grounds of having incurred several physical problems, among them runny noses and chronic insomnia, and also injuries that they had incurred while they were involved in the rescue work.

One of the workers also succumbed to Esophageal cancer, which, it was claimed, had occurred due to the inhalation of the dust and gases. The settlement has taken more than two years to finalize, and initially, the city had claimed that the claims of the complainants were insubstantial, and based on previously persisting illnesses. The workers in turn claimed that they had been sent to the site without being provided proper safety measures.