Galway Bay fm newsroom - GMIT is facing legal action over the death of two students in a fatal house fire in Belgium in January 2014.
19 year-old Sara Gibaldo from Oranmore and 22 year-old Dace Zarina from Longford both died while on Erasmus placement.
At the time of their deaths, 19 year-old Sara Gibaldo and 22 year-old Dace Zarina were undertaking a Bachelors of Business degree in hotel and catering management at GMIT.
In January 2014, both students were in Belgium on a six month Erasmus placement at the The Leuven Institute for Ireland in Europe.
They were living in a building owned by Institute Director Malachy Vallely - and while they did not pay rent he was paid by the college to house them.
A fire broke out in the early hours of the morning on Friday January 31st in their student apartment which resulted in the death of both women.
Last month, the Leuven Institute and Mr. Vallely were both found guilty over the fire - with a court hearing that fire safety in the apartment was 'completely lacking'.
During the trial Malachy Vallely was also accused of using his apartment as a “cash cow” by renting it back to the college for 23 years.
He received a a suspended sentence of one year and was fined €1000 while Leuven College was fined €60,000.
According to the Irish Mail on Sunday, the families of both women now intend to sue both the Leuven Institute and GMIT.
It's reported that the families have not yet asked the Irish college in Leuven for compensation but have until November 14 to make a claim.
However, the families' solicitor Colin Lynch says the date is likely to be pushed back and two actions are pending against the Leuven Institute and GMIT.
