GM acknowledges 52 deaths from faulty ignition system

Washington, Feb 10 (IANS/EFE) Fifty-two people died due to faulty ignitions in millions of cars made by General Motors (GM), according to report prepared by the compensation fund established by the auto giant.

Before the release of the report Monday, the GM Fund had initially acknowledged that the defect could have caused 13 deaths in North America, where the cars with faulty ignitions were sold.

In addition to the 52 deaths, the Fund - managed by Kenneth Feinberg, a lawyer specialised in victim compensation in cases such as the Sep 11, 2001, attacks in the US - approved claims of eight individuals with extremely serious injuries and 71 with less serious injuries.

The most severe injuries include quadriplegia, paraplegia, double amputations of limbs, permanent brain damage or severe burns.

In its report, the Fund also noted that, in total, it has received 462 death claims, 262 injuries of the first category and 3,493 of the second category, referring to those cases that required hospitalisation of victims.

Potential applicants for compensation had until Jan 31, 2015, to submit their claims to the Fund.

GM set up the fund and appointed Feinberg as its administrator acknowledging last year that it had for years ignored the defect in the ignition system in approximately 2.6 million vehicles that causes the engine to turn off unexpectedly, disconnecting the airbag system.

The Fund plans to pay $1 million for each death claim that has been accepted.

--IANS/EFE

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