Miami judge approves $1.02 billion settlement in Surfside condo collapse

June 23 (UPI) -- Miami Judge Michael Hanzman has approved a $1.02 billion settlement for victims of the Miami Surfside condo collapse last year. Settlement money will go to surviving family members, the injured and the 136 condo owners.

According to the White House, First Lady Jill Biden will speak at the Town of Surfside's memorial event at 10 a.m. EDT Friday. The event is to honor and remember the 98 people who died in the condo collapse at the Champlain Towers on June 24, 2021.

Hanzman said the settlement "will never be enough to compensate them for the tragic loss. The settlement is the best we can do. It's a remarkable result. It is extraordinary," CBS News Miami reported.

None of the defendants admitted any culpability in the tragedy.

Owners of the condos also will share the proceeds of the sale of the land, expected to be $96 million.

Victims of the condo collapse reached an agreement with all but one of the companies involved in May.

Plaintiffs argued in their lawsuit that construction work at an adjacent luxury building, Eighty Seven Park, caused the Champlain Towers South building to become so badly damaged as to be unsafe.

Hanzman thanked the dozens of lawyers involved in the case. He said it was the most complicated case he had seen in a 35-year career.

EIleen Rosenberg lost her daughter Malky in the condo collapse. According to NPR, Rosenberg said Hanzman had "put himself in our shoes (and) mirrored our pain and tears."