MH370 - Only 3 families in compensation talks 
MalaysiaKini.com
Mar 18, 2015     
By Ram Anand 

Only three next-of-kin of the passengers on board the MH370 flight which went missing en route to Beijing have entered talks with Malaysia Airlines (MAS) for compensation following the authorities' decision in late January to declare the incident as an accident with all passengers presumed dead.

The government revealed this in a written answer to Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (BN-Lenggong) in Parliament today.

"As of March 6, three next -of-kin of the passengers have stated their willingness to negotiate for compensation," the transport ministry said.

On Jan 29, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) declared the incident as an "accident", paving way for full compensation to the next-of-kin.

MH370 went missing on March 8 last year while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

It was initially declared to have ended its flight over the Indian Ocean but the Boeing 777 has yet to be found to date, more than one year passing since the incident.

There were 238 people on board the flight, most of them Chinese nationals.

'My son is alive'

The Ministry aid the declaration of an accident would help the next-of-kin with insurance claims and other necessary aid in continuing their lives.

The next-of-kin of those on board have launched a petition to ensure the search for the plane continues, in conjunction with the first anniversary of the incident.

Several next-of-kin said they were still unable accept that those on board the plane have perished.

"I still believe my son is alive... They are all alive, none of them have died, because there is no proof," said Kamariah Sharif, who is the mother of passenger Mohd Razahan Zamani.

Four ships are currently contracted by the Australian and Malaysian governments to perform underwater search in a area covering 60,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean.

"We remain cautiously optimistic about finding the plane [...] with over 40 percent of the priority search area covered so far,” said Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss. 

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