KENNETH FEINBERG, the independent administrator running the $20 billion (€16bn) fund set up by BP to compensate victims, yesterday said he would make sure that “every eligible, legitimate claim is paid and paid quickly”.

Rescue crews in the US navigated debris-strewn streets to reach people still stuck in some of the thousands of homes flooded by Hurricane Ike, while authorities in the fourth-largest US city, imposed a curfew and warned residents that it would be weeks before Houston is fully back up and running.