Victims` Family to File Lawsuit Against Lion Air, Reports Say

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Several victims` families of downed Lion Air JT 610 reportedly planned to file a lawsuit against Lion Air due to lack of facilities provided for families of victims during the past 10 days of the evacuation process.

The plan was discussed in a Whatsapp group with members of hundreds of victims’ family. Tempo asked confirmation about the news to one of the victims’ families named Samini, 48 years old. “It’s been widely discussed, I only read it,” she said when met at Ibis Hotel in Cawang, East Jakarta, Thursday, November 8.

Read: Police Hospital Identifies 51 Bodies of Lion Air Victims

According to Samini, there were three messaging groups of the victims’ family. One group consisted of victims’ families members, while the other one included Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team for identification purposes.

Since the Monday crash, October 29, victims’ families continued to deliver complaints until today. During the press conference on Monday, November 5, the families of victims directly criticized Lion Air CEO Rusdi Kirana regarding lack of empathy and family assistance from the corporate.

Samini complained over hardship in arranging assurance files since she had to fulfill eight required documents in her hometown in West Bangka, Bangka Belitung Island. 

However, the lawsuit plan only made rounds in victims’ family circle. No final decision made yet. Lion Air Corporate Communications Strategic Danang Mandala Prihantoro claimed he was not aware of the plan and hoped this problem could be solved persuasively. “We do our best,” he noted. 

FAJAR PEBRIANTO