B.C. ferry sinking lawsuit settled

Dozens of passengers who scrambled off the Queen of the North as the ferry began sinking near Prince Rupert, B.C., in 2006 have settled a class-action lawsuit for $350,000.

However, after legal fees are subtracted, the more than 40 passengers eligible for the settlement will have only $140,000 to split among them.

The passengers filed the lawsuit against BC Ferries after the vessel ran aground in March 2006.

Two people are missing and presumed to have died when the ferry sank. Ninety-nine passengers and crew survived after the vessel sank near Gil Island, off B.C.'s north coast.

A document filed in B.C. Supreme Court by the passengers' lawyer ahead of a hearing scheduled for Thursday said most of the money will go toward legal costs.

The families of the two people who died in the accident settled out of court for undisclosed amounts. The lawyer for one of those families said they decided to settle because the cost of a civil trial was too high.