A Washington state court yesterday approved the settlement of a lawsuit under which a 12-year-old girl who nearly died after eating a tainted hamburger will get $15.6 million.

Under the settlement Foodmaker Inc., operator of Jack in the Box restaurants, meat processor Von Stores Inc. and various slaughterhouses will pay the sum to Brianne Kiner, said her lawyer, William Marler.

Kiner, who fell into a 42-day coma after eating a hamburger at a Jack in the Box restaurant in January 1993, was the most seriously affected survivor of meat tainted with the E. coli bacteria that killed three children.