Benalmadena victims receive compensation

THE relatives of victims of the Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak in Benalmadena in 2007 have been awarded approximately €248,000 in compensation. 

Almost 50 people had to go to hospital due to the outbreak and three people died, including a former Euro Weekly News editor, aged 68 at the time.

The outbreak originated in a refrigeration tower at the ice rink in Benalmadena. Many people spent weeks in hospital and some were left with permanent after effects.

Six years on, the victims claim that they were never contacted by the town hall or the company that managed the club, which was closed down as a precautionary measure by the mayor at the time, Javier Carnero, and reopened weeks later.

The relatives of the two British victims have reached an agreement with one of the insurance companies and will receive payments of €138,250 and €109,971, according to the Patients’ Ombudsman. The third victim was a man from Oviedo, but the Junta de Andalucia Provincial Health Delegation claims that his death was not due to the Legionnaire’s outbreak.

The investigation, which is being handled by a court in Torremolinos, continues, and patients affected by the outbreak complain that they are not being offered enough compensation.