"Brazil quake city families seek justice in Dutch court", 15 February 2024

...Families from Maceio flew to the Netherlands to hear the case against Brazilian petrochemical giant Braskem, whose European operations are based in Rotterdam.

Once a city of one million people, life in Maceio has been upended by earthquakes in 2018 attributed to salt mining and subsequent cracks in streets and buildings. The quakes forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.

"What we are living now is hell," community leader Alex Da Silva, 42, told AFP...

Braskem says it has offered financial compensation and psychological support to those affected, as well as help moving house. The firm says it has paid out 3.93 billion reais ($790 million) in compensation and financial aid to more than 18,000 people. Lawyers for Braskem argued in court that as the settlement had already been agreed in Brazil, the case in the Netherlands was superfluous.

But Martijn van Dam, a lawyer from Dutch firm Lemstra Van Der Korst representing the families, told AFP: "That compensation program is not full compensation...

Representatives for Braskem declined to comment after the hearing...

The court will first decide on liability, then compensation, if it rules against Braskem...

In 2022, the Rotterdam court ruled it had jurisdiction in the case, arguing that its parent company Braskem SA and the subsidiaries in the Netherlands were "inextricably linked"...