KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 164 next of kin of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 have received advance compensation payment from the government as at March 6.
"MAS has offered advance compensation payment of RM184,413 (USD50,000) as part of the full compensation payment to every next of kin and family members of MH17 passengers and crew members," Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said.
"The amount of compensation paid to the next of kin is based on the Montreal Convention 1999 and subjected to proof of loss that was borne by every passenger," he said in a written reply to Fong Kui Lun (DAP-Bukit Bintang) at the Dewan Rakyat.
Flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17 last year as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur with 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. The Boeing 777-200 aircraft is believed to have been shot down over the troubled country.
Besides Malaysians, nationals from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand were among the 298 passengers and crew on board.
On the advance compensation payment for the next of kin of the missing MAS flight MH370, Liow said 52 of them had received the payment as at last Friday.
"On Jan 28 and 29, MAS has also informed the next of kin of passengers and crew of the two ill-fated flights about its willingness to discuss the full compensation payment," the minister said.
Flight MH370 dropped off radar on March 8 last year as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.
The Boeing 777 aircraft has yet to be found, even after an exhaustive search in the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down after veering off course.
On Jan 29 this year, the government declared the disappearance of the flight an accident and that all passengers and crew on board are presumed to have lost their lives. - Bernama
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