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A court in Beijing announced on Monday that it has ordered Malaysia Airlines to compensate the families of eight passengers from flight MH370, over ten years after the aircraft went missing.
According to a statement from the Chaoyang District People’s Court, 47 other lawsuits were dropped after the families reached settlements with Malaysia Airlines and its international division, Malaysia Airlines International.
The court ruled that the compensation awarded last Friday would cover funeral costs, emotional distress, and other losses, with each family set to receive more than 2.9 million yuan ($410,000).
The Boeing 777, carrying 239 passengers, disappeared from radar on March 8, 2014, during its flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Despite the most extensive search in aviation history, the plane has yet to be located.
Approximately two-thirds of the passengers were from China, while the remainder were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and other nations, including India, the United States, the Netherlands, and France.
Out of the initial 78 lawsuits filed by families in the aftermath of the plane’s disappearance, the Beijing court noted that 23 are still ongoing. The families of the remaining passengers “have either not initiated a declaration of death or have not completed the process,” the court explained. The eight passengers recognised by the court as entitled to compensation have been declared legally deceased.
This court ruling follows an announcement from Malaysian authorities stating that the search for the plane will recommence at the end of December, a decision that has been positively received by China’s foreign ministry and the relatives of the victims.
