Gulf Air has received $36 million in compensation from insurance firms for the Airbus plane that crashed into the sea off Bahrain last month killing 143 people, a newspaper said Saturday.
The Bahrain Tribune also said a London-based office has started the procedure to compensate families of the passengers and crew of the doomed Cairo-Manama flight on August 23.
The office has an initial compensation fund of five million dollars for the families, it said.
But cashing the compensation is likely to take time because of procedures to determine each victim's legal heirs, an insurance company chief told the newspaper.
Preliminary published results from the crash investigation indicate that the speed of the A320's final approach was around 200 knots (about 370 kph), higher than the plane's permitted top speed for final approach.
The Airbus went into a very tight turn at maximum thrust before plunging into shallow Gulf waters off the Bahraini archipelago at a recorded speed of 280 knots (518 kph).
Almost half the passengers on the flight were Egyptians.
Gulf Air director Sheikh Ahmad bin Seif al-Nahyan said shortly after the crash that the company would promptly give each victim's family $25,000 as part of their final compensation settlements. – (AFP)
© Agence France Presse 2000
© 2000 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
