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Thursday, January 21, 1993 Page: 1D QUICK WORDS: GLORIA ESTAFAN —
SETTLEMENT
SCRANTON — The companies sued by singer Gloria Estefan after she broke her
back nearly three years ago in a highway accident outside Scranton settled
their dispute as the case headed for trial this week.
The squabble was between Maersk Inc., the company whose truck slammed into
Estefan’s tour bus on Interstate 380, and Naro Enterprises Inc., which owned a
truck that forced the bus to stop in the middle of the road. Bay Container
Repairs, which maintained the Maersk truck’s brakes, also was involved in the
suit.
Estefan and members of her entourage were headed to a concert in Syracuse,
N.Y., on March 20, 1990, when their bus was forced to stop because the Naro
tractor-trailer had jackknifed across the snow-covered highway. The Maersk
truck then crashed into the halted bus.
About a year later, Maersk settled for nearly $9 million with Estefan, her
family, the bus company and others injured aboard the bus, said John R.
Lenahan Jr., a Scranton lawyer who represented the Denmark-based international
transport company.
Under the terms of this week’s settlement, Naro will reimburse Maersk by $4
million, while Bay Container will give the Danish shipper $200,000, Lenahan
said.
The driver of the Maersk truck had claimed faulty brakes on his rig caused
the accident. The settlement doesn’t determine who ultimately was responsible
for the wreck, Lenahan said.
Estefan, whose Miami Sound Machine soared to national fame in the
mid-1980s, spent several days in Scranton’s Community Medical Center after the
accident. She later underwent surgery at a New York hospital and spent nearly
a year recuperating from her injuries.
Estefan has returned to Northeastern Pennsylvania since and contributed
several thousand dollars to several charities — including Ronald McDonald
House and Monroe County firefighters — that helped her and her family out
immediately after the crash.
Gloria Estefan