A federal appeals court has been asked to allow a class-action lawsuit against the Veterans Affairs Department by veterans who say they became ill from radiation exposure after responding to a 1966 accident involving U.S. hydrogen bombs in Spain.
Yale Law School students in Connecticut filed the request Monday with the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims on behalf of veterans who sought disability benefits from the VA but were denied.
The students represent Air Force veteran Victor Skaar, of Nixa, Missouri, and want to expand the lawsuit to include other veterans.
VA officials did not immediately return messages Monday.
Radioactive plutonium was released near Palomares, Spain, in January 1966, after a U.S. B-52 bomber and refueling plane crashed. Four hydrogen bombs crashed, but there were no nuclear explosions.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.