21,000 lives lost in 2004 disasters
Property insurance companies face record claims of €32bn, with the largest losses resulting from hurricanes in Florida and typhoons in Japan, according to a preliminary study by the Zurich-based Swiss Re, the world’s second-largest reinsurer.
Europe had fewer natural catastrophes than in previous years, Swiss Re said, but cited the 191 people killed and more than 2,000 injured in March following a terrorist attack on Madrid train stations.
Some 9% of the insurance claims were for natural catastrophes, with the rest attributed to manmade disasters, it said.
