Beijing Court Begins Compensation Hearing for Victims of Flight MH370

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta -  A Beijing court on Monday began the compensation hearing for relatives of Chinese passengers who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 that went missing almost a decade ago. Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board, most of whom were Chinese nationals, when it vanished from radar.

Chinese state media CCTV said that more than 40 relatives filed for compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Rolls-Royce, Allianz and Boeing. Each family filed for civil compensation of between 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million) and 80 million yuan, as well as moral damages of 30 million yuan to 40 million yuan, CCTV reported.

The families' request for litigation is focused on compensation and finding the truth behind the flight's disappearance, according to Zhang Qihuai, a lawyer quoted by CCTV. It was unclear what jurisdiction the Chinese court has to enforce the claims for compensation against the defendants.

The TV station added that the families of more than 110 other passengers have already reached a settlement with the defendants, and received between 2.5 million and 3 million yuan.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Transportation Ministry and Malaysia Airlines have both declined to comment on the hearings.

Without a Trace

Flight MH370 was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 when it mysteriously disappeared from radar above the Indian Ocean. There were 239 people on board.

An Australian-led operation found hardly any trace of the plane in the 120,000-square-kilometer search zone, with only some pieces of debris picked up. The search operation, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017.

The latest report on the tragedy was released in 2018. It pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the plane's course had been changed manually. However, the report did not come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives upset and disappointed.

TEMPO.CO

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