Chicago high-rise fire suit settled for $100 million

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Victims of a 2003 fire in a downtown Chicago office building will receive $100 million in a legal settlement of the case, an attorney said on Monday.

The combined $100 million payout includes $50 million from the City of Chicago, $24 million from building management, and $9 million from Cook County which owned the building, according to Daniel Kotin, a lawyer who represented four victims in the case.

The case had been set to go to trial this week in a lawsuit brought by 22 victims. Judge William Maddux, who sits in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois, had approved the settlement, Kotin said.

Six people were killed and many others injured in the October 2003 blaze the 11th floor of the 35-story Cook County Administration Building near the center of Chicago's downtown loop. Most of the victims were caught on stairwells by smoke.

(Reporting by Emily Chasan)