Mangalore crash: Govt may soon announce first tranche of compensation package

The government is soon expected to announce the first tranche of a compensation package to the family members of the passengers killed in the Air India plane crash in Mangalore.

Government is likely to be working on announcing an immediate package of Rs10 lakh, even as concerned officials were in discussions with various agencies to study the Aircraft Act and the Montreal Convention regarding the compensation package, sources said.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh has announced Rs2 lakh compensation to each crash victim's family while civil aviation minister Praful Patel has said the airlines will give up to $1,60,000 (about Rs 72lakh) to the family members of each victim as per the provisions of the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Act.

Under this Act, which has been amended as per The Montreal Convention, kin of each victim is entitled for up to one lakh special drawing rights (SDR) which as per the present exchange rates is worth about $1,60,000 (Rs72 lakh).

Karnataka chief minister BS Yeddyurappa has also announced Rs2 lakh compensation to each of the families of the 158 people killed in yesterday's crash.

Meanwhile, sources said the government has also asked the local police to expedite the post-mortem and hand over the bodies to the relatives quickly. So far, 150 bodies have been identified.

Most of the relatives have been flown in from Dubai and from different parts of the country to Mangalore, they said.