NYC to pay $3.5M to family of Belgian firefighter killed in FDNY boat crash
NYC will pay $3.5 million to the family of a visiting Belgian firefighter who was killed in a FDNY boat crash in the East River in 2022.
Victim Johnny Beernaert, 54, was aboard the FDNY craft Marine 1 Bravo on June 17, 2022, on a sightseeing tour with three other civilians including his wife and one on-duty firefighter, when it collided with the chartered harbor cruise boat 'Honcho.'
On Thursday, a Brooklyn Federal Court judge dismissed the lawsuit filed by Beernaert's estate and his wife, Heidi Vermandel, after she and the city came to terms in the case.
The owner of the charter boat, New York City Boat Tours, and its skipper, Edward Mattiace, have agreed to pay out $500,000, according to the settlement papers.
The Coast Guard determined the FDNY was at fault, finding excessive speed and inadequate lookout on the part of Marine 1 Bravo caused the devastating crash.
'My clients are satisfied with the settlement and they're looking forward to getting on with their lives after their tragic loss,' said Paul Hoffman, Vermandel's lawyer.
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FILE - Belgian policemen and volunteers clear the scene after a disastrous clash between rival soccer fans at the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, on May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Belgian riot policemen stand with other police in a line in front of a totally littered stand after various fan groups rioted, in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Shocked spectators walk through the personal belongings of victims littering the stands, after a disastrous clash between rival soccer fans at the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, on May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - A crowd of soccer fans in the Brussels Heysel stadium, falls down in a heavy group over the broken fence just prior to the European Champion's Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus of Turin, in Brussels, Belgium, May 29, 1985. (AP Photo/Gianni Foggia, File) FILE - A crowd of soccer fans in the Brussels Heysel stadium, falls down in a heavy group over the broken fence just prior to the European Champion's Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus of Turin, in Brussels, Belgium, May 29, 1985. (AP Photo/Gianni Foggia, File) FILE - Belgian policemen and volunteers clear the scene after a disastrous clash between rival soccer fans at the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, on May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Belgian riot policemen stand with other police in a line in front of a totally littered stand after various fan groups rioted, in the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, Wednesday, May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - Shocked spectators walk through the personal belongings of victims littering the stands, after a disastrous clash between rival soccer fans at the European Cup Final at Heysel Stadium in Brussels, Belgium, on May 29, 1985. (AP Photo, File) FILE - A crowd of soccer fans in the Brussels Heysel stadium, falls down in a heavy group over the broken fence just prior to the European Champion's Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus of Turin, in Brussels, Belgium, May 29, 1985. (AP Photo/Gianni Foggia, File) On May 29, 1985, 39 people went to the biggest club game in soccer and never returned home. Heysel Stadium in Brussels was staging the European Cup final between Juventus and Liverpool exactly 40 years ago. Advertisement Crowd disorder culminated in a surge by Liverpool fans into an adjacent stand containing mostly Juventus supporters. In the ensuing chaos, some were trampled or suffocated to death as they tried to flee and others died when a retaining wall collapsed. A total of 39 people — 32 from Italy, four from Belgium, two from France and one from Northern Ireland — died and around 600 were injured in events that took place in real time on international television. 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'People were out of control' Evans attended the match with family and friends and remembers the level of drunkenness among Liverpool fans was unlike anything he'd seen. Advertisement 'People were out of control everywhere,' he told the AP. 'When you got to the ground, people were kicking holes in the wall to climb in. By then, the atmosphere had deteriorated and there were wild rumors going round that Liverpool fans had been stabbed and one had been hung.' Evans, who has written about Heysel in two books, 'Far Foreign Land' and 'Two Tribes,' recalls the Liverpool section being so overcrowded that fans were already spilling through a collapsed barrier into the 'neutral' section. Fans were seen throwing beer cans and chunks of concrete torn from the stands. What ultimately set off a fatal surge by Liverpool fans, Evans said, was flares being set off. Advertisement 'That seemed to spark a huge panic, a charge down the front,' he said. Those fleeing the panic were crushed in the corner of the neutral section next to an old wall, which collapsed. Despite the chaos, organizers decided the final should be played, believing it would prevent further disorder between fans outside the stadium. Juventus won 1-0. The aftermath Some 26 Liverpool fans were arrested and charged with manslaughter, 14 of whom were found guilty and given three-year prison sentences. Suspended prison sentences were handed to a Belgian Football Association official and a police chief. Heysel never hosted another major game. It was torn down in 1994 and replaced with King Baudouin Stadium. Advertisement In terms of sporting sanctions, English clubs were banned from playing in European competition for five years. Liverpool received an indefinite suspension that ultimately lasted for six years. 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For Liverpool, the occasion would be even more poignant coming just days after a minivan plowed into dozens of fans during the team's latest Premier League victory parade. Advertisement Liverpool said its newly designed memorial at Anfield will feature "two scarves knotted together and gently tied — symbolizing the unity and solidarity between the two clubs and the bond formed through shared grief and mutual respect in the aftermath of the disaster." It will include the names of the 39 people who died. Juventus ' memorial will be near its stadium and training complex. ___ AP soccer:
