Malaysian Airlines To Give US$5k Each To MH17 Families As Initial Aid

Jul 21, 2014 10:34 AM EDT

(Photo : Reuters / Samsul Said) A woman, who said her name was Noraini and that she believed a relative of hers was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, cries as she waits for more information at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

Malaysia Airlines announced on Monday that it would provide each immediate family of the passengers of Flight MH17 with US$5,000 as initial help.

The company seeks to help the immediate families of the downed jetliner's passengers cope with their financial needs through the initial financial aid. In a statement, Malaysia Airlines said the US$5,000 will neither be deducted from the final compensation nor affect the families' rights to claim, Reuters detailed.

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The funds for the financial aid will be given "as goodwill" and are already available, Malaysia Airlines added.

In addition to the monetary compensation, the MH17 families will also receive hotel accommodation with transport assistance, meals, and counseling, according to an AFP report posted by Channel News Asia.

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam last Thursday when it was shot down over the airspace of eastern Ukraine and crashed in the area riddled with political turmoil. All the 15 crew members and 298 passengers on board the plane died in the tragic incident.

Authorities believe a missile shot down the passenger jet. The U.S. blamed separatist rebels for the tragedy and said Russia supplied the missile system the rebels used that took the aircraft down.

The MH17 accident is the second time a severe crisis hit Malaysia Airlines. On March 8, flight MH370 took off from Kuala Lumpur on its way to Beijing when it suddenly disappeared along with the 239 people on board.

Investigators believe the passenger jet veered away from its flight path and disappeared somewhere in the southern part of the Indian Ocean. Like the MH370, flight MH17 was also a Boeing 777-200 jet.

Malaysia Airlines has been wrestling through financial hurdles for years. In the last three years alone, the firm's accumulated losses now reach US$1.3 billion and the disappearance of flight MH370 greatly affected its results for the first quarter.

Khazanah Nasional, the state fund that controls Malaysia Airlines' finances, announced in June that it would come up with a turnaround plan in six to 12 months.

Tagsfinancial aid, MH17 families