Disbursements from a settlement fund to compensate the families of victims of the horrific explosion and fire that killed 47 people in the Quebec town of Lac-Megantic will start in the new year, according to the bankruptcy trustee who has overseen the two-year process.

Robert J. Keach, of the Portland-based law firm Bernstein Shur, said Tuesday that the $460 million (Canadian) settlement fund is ready to make payments to the families of victims of the July 2013 disaster caused when a runaway train pulling 72 oil tankers derailed and crashed in the community’s downtown. Keach is the Chapter 11 trustee for Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd. and Richter Advisory Group Inc., and is the monitor in the case for Montreal Maine & Atlantic Canada.

Starting this week, trustees will transfer about $114 million to a trust benefiting holders of wrongful death claims, according to a Bernstein Shur news release.

“We are very pleased that we will be able to fund the trust before the holidays, and that distributions will reach the families as soon as possible next year,” Keach said in the release.

Distribution of roughly $317 million to holders of personal injury, moral damage and economic and property claims, as well as to the federal, provincial and local government claims, will be handled by Richter Advisory and will also proceed in the new year.