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Shanghai building collapse: Dead victim's family to get $113,600

By Hou Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-07-08 11:46

The family of the only dead victim of Shanghai's recent building collapse will get 775,000 yuan ($113,600) in compensation, a local newspaper reported Wednesday.

A 13-story under construction apartment building in Shanghai's Lotus Riverside complex fell to its side on June 27, killing Xiao Dekun, a decoration company worker, who was collecting his tools when the structure collapsed.

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Xiao's father signed an agreement with the firm, which will offer compensation of 775,000 yuan (US$113,600), the Shanghai Business Daily said.

"We negotiated the settlement through mediation of Meilong Town's law officers," a director of the company told the paper.

As of yet, those who owned apartments in the toppled building have not received any compensation, even as they have to continue paying the mortgages, according to Guangzhou Daily.

A bank told the paper that the collapse of the building does not change the debtor-creditor relationship, but homeowners could seek compensation from the real estate developer.

The homeowners, the government and the property developer did try to negotiate compensation on July 4 but failed to reach a settlement.

Homeowners hoped the government would offer compensation if the developer was unable to pay, but the government maintained it was “only a mediator”.

The government said the developer's finances had already been frozen and it would provide a solution before this Saturday.