Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Tsunami victims file lawsuit
News.com.au ^ | May 5, 2005 | Staff

Posted on 03/05/2005 6:18:51 PM PST by kennedy

SEVERAL dozen European victims of Asia's tsunami disaster have filed a lawsuit demanding that Thai authorities, US forecasters, and a French hotel chain prove that they reacted adequately.

In what is believed to be the first tsunami claim worldwide, US lawyer Edward Fagan and two other lawyers have filed the suit with a New York district court on behalf of more than 60 plaintiffs from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The suit was filed against the Thai government, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its Tsunami Warning Centre, and the French hotel group Sofitel, said Herwig Hasslacher, one of the group's lawyers.

The plaintiffs accuse Thai authorities of not releasing information about the impending sea surge as soon as they received it, arguing that a more prompt alert would have saved thousands of lives.

They also accuse the NOAA, whose Hawaii-based tsunami warning centre covers only the Pacific, of not informing Indian Ocean states of the tsunami even though they had registered the seaquake.

The French hotel chain Sofitel, part of the group Accor, is accused of knowingly building the Sofitel Khao Lak Beach in the Thai resort of Phuket on a fault line, along with failing to inform parents of the victims and failing to repatriate some of the victims' bodies.

The lawyers said the suit was not, at present, designed to demand compensation but to uncover evidence that would prove negligence.

Mr Fagan asked the US court to ensure the preservation of key documents needed for the case, such as satellite imagery and contacts between the NOAA, Thailand and Indonesia, Mr Hasslacher said.

The court was expected to set a date for a hearing within the next 30 days in which tsunami survivors could be heard, he added.

The number of people believed to have perished in the December 26 tsunami stood at 273,435 today, more than two months after the disaster.

Mr Fagan successfully fought a class action suit against Swiss banks by Holocaust victims.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: earthquake; forcemajeure; lawsuit; noaa; nws; quake; sofitel; sumatraquake; thailand; tsunami
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 last
To: kennedy

France has no torts law.


41 posted on 03/05/2005 7:13:46 PM PST by Kitten Festival (The Thug of Caracas has got to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

France has no torts law.


42 posted on 03/05/2005 7:13:51 PM PST by Kitten Festival (The Thug of Caracas has got to go.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

Lawyers or (liers) give me a bad taste, sleezy, money grabbers all.


43 posted on 03/05/2005 7:17:30 PM PST by JamesA ( The more you try to change my convictions the more resolved I am to keep them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy
I have a 82 year old friend who lives near Santa Cruz and she has Mesotheilioma. Her daughter called for a booklet on the disease and received it promptly along with phone call from the attorney pushing the book. Within 6 days he and a partner were sitting in her living room signing her up for a lawsuit.

Nothing too unusual there until I asked her where he was from and she said TEXAS. They flew into SF and drove over to see her yesterday. I am still in shock...

44 posted on 03/05/2005 7:25:57 PM PST by tubebender
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

We should deduct every dollar NOAA spends on this idiocy from the tsunami relief fund and announce this to the world and ask the attorney firm that is sponsoring this crap to match it.


45 posted on 03/05/2005 7:30:13 PM PST by kcar (theUNsucks.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

This would be funny if it weren't so sad. Ok, how about "INSANE"? A natural disaster is grounds for a LAWSUIT? I am continually amazed.


46 posted on 03/05/2005 7:35:05 PM PST by Just Lori (There! I said it!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

either the USA is RESPONSIBLE for the WHOLE world or it ISN'T... i wish they'd make up their minds!!!


47 posted on 03/05/2005 7:42:45 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Chode

f'ing european slobs...i live in thailand and they all trash us americans all the time...they choose to come here to play for holiday...but want to sue in a us court...take to the faciest EU...they are all running here and everywhere else leaving their homelands fearful of the islam millions they have in their countries but still want the depressed dollar in addition to their own overly priced uros...what slobs!


48 posted on 03/05/2005 7:56:40 PM PST by ldish (God save the USA)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

Maybe next time they will buried in an avalanche skiing in the alps.


49 posted on 03/05/2005 8:03:03 PM PST by CROSSHIGHWAYMAN (NO PRISONERS!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

Shakespeare had it right about Lawyers, that's for sure.

Act of God in an earthquake/volcanic/tectonically active area?

Maybe, but it's the United States fault because they deliberately didn't share their voodoo technology with the rest of the world, because they're trying to kill of all the poor third world peope, and oh, yes, white Europeans from socialist countries, and before I forget, terrorist sympathizers in Aceh.

So, ergo, if it's America's fault, it's Bush's fault yet again!

This is great...Two Degrees of Separation from George W. Bush, the hot new game lefties and their ilk just love to play.


50 posted on 03/05/2005 8:29:46 PM PST by hleewilder
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ldish
my cousin lived in Thailand... Udorn,Utpow and NKP mostly.
course it was 35 years ago and he was in the AirForce at the time but he loved it and i've always wanted to go there.

Stay Safe my Friend... FReegards

51 posted on 03/05/2005 8:30:39 PM PST by Chode (American Hedonist ©®)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 48 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

This lawyer scum gives the term "AMBULANCE CHASER" a whole new meaning, on a much larger scale. What a disgrace.


52 posted on 03/05/2005 8:51:54 PM PST by MCH
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

We had to know that sooner or later, someone would end up suing us over this. It must have taken this long for the lawyers to sort out who was going to go for what.


53 posted on 03/05/2005 9:15:30 PM PST by IronJack
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: F.J. Mitchell

no, I didn't, thanks gave me a good laugh.


54 posted on 03/05/2005 9:29:05 PM PST by lolhelp
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne

"At least the attorney has a name that suits him."

Fagan? That name rings a bell. Some evil guy in an animated movie with dogs? The one in Manhatten?

My favorite and most repeated line: "I'm having a bad day."


55 posted on 03/05/2005 9:33:07 PM PST by geopyg ("It's not that liberals don't know much, it's just that what they know just ain't so." (~ R. Reagan))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: geopyg
Fagan? That name rings a bell. Some evil guy in an animated movie with dogs? The one in Manhatten?

Fagin

n : a villainous Jew in a novel by Charles Dickens; "Fagin was a fence who trained boys as pickpockets"

dictionary.reference.com

56 posted on 03/05/2005 10:50:11 PM PST by ApplegateRanch (The world needs more horses, and fewer Jackasses!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies]

To: kennedy

These idiots are about to experience US law, where there is no expectation of performance by the government.


57 posted on 03/06/2005 9:10:11 AM PST by shellshocked
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: kennedy
SEVERAL dozen European victims...60 plaintiffs from Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland...
Okay, hands-up anyone who's surprised by the nationalities of the 'plaintiffs'.
58 posted on 03/06/2005 9:23:10 AM PST by solitas (So what if I support a platform that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.3.7)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: solitas

Hi

I blogged about this on February 16th:

http://eclipsechasing.blogspot.com/2005/02/tsunami-litigation.html

Simply outrageous!


59 posted on 03/06/2005 2:24:31 PM PST by Shadowchaser
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: capitan_refugio; lainie; oceanperch; Darksheare; Quilla; SubMareener; Esther Ruth; kimchi lover; ...

Earthquake Ping List. Please ping me or send a Freepmail to me if you want to be taken off this list.


60 posted on 03/07/2005 7:02:19 PM PST by bd476
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-60 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson