AIKEN, S.C. AP – A federal judge approved a settlement Monday that would pay thousands of dollars to hundreds of people injured in a train derailment that released a toxic cloud of chlorine gas over the town of Graniteville.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Seymour gave final approval to the agreement between railroad owner Norfolk Southern and a pool of nearly 480 people who claimed they suffered serious injuries after the crash, said Joseph Rice, an attorney representing the plaintiffs.