Family of Receptionist Killed in Minnesota School Blast Settles

Family members of a school receptionist have settled their lawsuit over an explosion that killed her last summer at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, Minn.

An attorney for Ruth Berg’s family and CenterPoint Energy confirmed the settlement Tuesday. Terms were not disclosed.

The 47-year-old Berg and 82-year-old custodian John Carlson were killed and nine other people were injured when the building fell last August. The lawsuit alleges that contractors for CenterPoint “ran to save themselves” rather than warn people inside the school about a gas leak before the explosion.

The private, Christian school was not in session at the time.

The lawsuit named CenterPoint and Master Mechanical, the company contracted to move gas meters out of the building, as defendants.

Master Mechanical declined to discuss the settlement with the Star Tribune .

A final report from the National Transportation Safety Board is pending.