Asbestos Litigation

A Turin, Italy court is reportedly seeking to lock up a wealthy Belgian man and a Swiss billionaire in one of the largest trials over asbestos-related deaths in history, reports AFP.

According to the news provider, former Eternit construction firm owner Stephan Schmidheiny and Belguim shareholder Jean-Louis Marie Ghislain de Cartier de Marchienne are currently being tried in absentia over the deaths of approximately 3,000 people.

The lawsuits against the two individuals were filed by approximately 6,000 people whose relatives reportedly worked or lived near Eternit's Italian plants, according to the news source.

The individuals are accused of causing an environmental disaster by operating the plants where the contamination occurred during the 1970s, the lawsuit states.

"I had never seen such a tragedy... It has affected several regions in our country, employees and residents. It is still sowing death and who knows how much longer it will continue to do so," said one prosecutor.

Symptoms of asbestos-related illnesses, which include asbestosis, lung cancer and malignant mesothelioma, often do not manifest themselves until decades after initial exposure to the carcinogen.