US band pays $1m to fire victims

The US rock band whose pyrotechnics sparked a fire that killed 100 people have agreed to pay $1m (£564,000) to survivors and victims' relatives.

The settlement offer from 1980s band Great White is the latest stemming from the fire at The Station nightclub in the US state of Rhode Island in 2003.

The blaze began when the band's tour manager shot off pyrotechnics at the start of the concert.

More than 200 people were also injured in the blaze.

One band member, guitarist Ty Longley, was killed in the fire - the fourth-deadliest nightclub fire in US history.

According to court papers, the band does not admit any wrongdoing as part of the settlement which requires the approval of the more than 300 people suing, among other conditions.

Devastating

Great White's insurer is covering the settlement.

Though the band members were never charged, tour manager Daniel Biechele pleaded guilty in 2006 to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter and was given parole in March after serving less than half of his four-year prison sentence.

The fire started after flammable packaging foam, which had been used as soundproofing, was ignited.

The blaze took hold with devastating speed, licking up curtains and foam covering around the stage as many in the crowd mistook the flames for part of the stage show

The victims and survivors sued several dozen defendants after the fire, including foam companies, the rock radio station that ran advertisements for the concert, the club owners and the local fire marshal who failed to cite the club for the foam on the walls and ceilings.

Besides Biechele, the only other people charged as a result of the fire were the club owners, Michael and Jeffrey Derderian, who pleaded no contest to 100 counts of involuntary manslaughter in 2006.

Roughly $175m (£99m) has now been offered by dozens of defendants to settle lawsuits over the blaze, although no settlement money has been distributed so far.

A US university law professor has been appointed to work out a formula to determine how much money each person should receive.

Great White, from Southern California, rose to popularity in the 1980s and scored a Grammy nomination for its best-known song, a cover of Once Bitten, Twice Shy.