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Sep 29, 2006 8:23 am US/Eastern
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City Settles S.I. Ferry Crash Lawsuit For $3M
NEW YORK (CBS/AP) ―
The city will pay $3 million to the estate of a woman who died after sustaining massive injuries in the 2003 Staten Island Ferry accident, the family's attorney said.
Debra Castro, 39, died two months after the Oct. 15, 2003 crash where the Andrew J. Barbieri slammed into a concrete pier. She suffered the loss of one leg and part of the other, as well as massive internal injuries, and never made it out of the hospital.
The family's attorney, Abram Bohrer, said Thursday that the city had agreed to pay $3 million to Castro's estate, with payments being made to her husband periodically over his lifetime.
In a statement, her husband Bill Castro said, "This is a bittersweet day for me. I feel justice was served, but no amount of money can ever bring Debra back to me."
Lawrence S. Kahn, chief litigating assistant for the city's Law Department, said, "The City continues to express its deep regret for this tragic accident. We hope that this settlement will in some measure bring closure to the family of Ms. Castro."
Ten other people were killed in the collision, with dozens more injured. The largest settlement so far -- close to $9 million -- was reached earlier this year with a man who lost both legs. The city said 109 out of 191 claims filed have been resolved.
Ferry pilot Richard Smith was sentenced to 18 months in prison for passing out at the helm of the vessel before it slammed into a concrete pier. The city's former ferry director, Patrick Ryan, received a year and one day for not enforcing a rule requiring two pilots to operate ferries during docking.
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)