Malaysia Airlines announced Tuesday it has reached a settlement with an Australian family who lost four family members on flight MH17.
Perth couple Anthony Maslin and Marite Norris lost their children Evie, 10, Mo, 12, and Otis, 8, along with their grandfather on the Boeing 777, which was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.
According to the Daily Telegraph, details of the settlement are confidential, but Malaysia Airlines and Colin Biggers & Paisley, who filed the lawsuit on behalf of the family, confirmed the matter had been resolved.
A picture taken on July 18, 2014 shows belongings of passengers on the site of the crash of the Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 298 people from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur a day after it crashed, near the town of Shaktarsk, in rebel-held east Ukraine. /VCG Photo
Malaysia Airlines also said that to date, a "substantial number" of next-of-kin have reached settlements with the airline, while others were "still seeking compensation and are pursuing their claims in their respective jurisdictions".
A lawyer representing families of six Malaysia Airlines crew members on MH17 told AFP the airline had offered to settle for an undisclosed amount in June last year, but the families had rejected the proposed sum. "There was another offer in January and we're still considering," lawyer Saw Wei Siang said Tuesday.
Flight MH17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014 while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people on board, most of them Dutch citizens.
A Polish police officer guards the remnants of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 loaded on a truck in Zarska Wies, Poland, near the German town of Goerlitz December 7, 2014. /VCG Photo
A Dutch-led criminal investigation into the attack concluded in September last year that a BUK missile, transported from Russia, was fired from a field in a part of war-torn Ukraine then controlled by pro-Russian rebels, and hit the plane. But it stopped short of saying who pulled the trigger.
The Dutch-led investigation did not directly accuse Moscow of supplying the BUK missile and its transporter system - and the Russian government has repeatedly denied any involvement. Malaysia Airlines said it was flying over unrestricted airspace and had complied with all regulatory requirements.
In its statement the airline said "it has always been its priority that all next-of-kin are fully compensated fairly and equitably... and this is not in any way tantamount to an admission of liability of guilt".
(Source: AFP, Daily Telegraph)