The victims of allegedly deadly humidifier disinfectants sold by Reckitt Benckiser Korea and other companies have decided to file a class action lawsuit against the firms.

A group of the victims and their family members held a meeting in Seoul on Sunday and decided to take legal action together to seek compensation for damages.

The group said 25 lawyers, who are members of the environment and health committee of the progressive lawyers’ group Lawyers for a Democratic Society, will gather plaintiffs of the case for about two weeks.

It appears that each plaintiff will seek a different amount of compensation depending on the level of damages experienced by each victim.

Kang Chan-ho, who serves as a representative of the victims, said those who sustained relatively minor damages and were excluded so far in related discussions, will also participate in the collective suit as plaintiffs.

The group, together with several local environment-related civic groups, will hold a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square on Monday, where they will announce the onset of a campaign to boycott the products of the companies responsible for the production or distribution of the sterilizers.  

Based on official government tallies so far, some 140 South Koreans, many of whom are children, have died after using the disinfectants that contained toxic materials.