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65pc of claims Kish airlines tragedy settled: official

DUBAI — More than a year after the tragic crash landing of their aircraft at Sharjah International Airport, which killed 43 of the 46 people on board, a Kish Airlines authority has reported that nearly 65 per cent of the settlement claims have already been distributed to family members of the deceased passengers.

Talking to Khaleej Times, Mohammad Noufal, Sales and Marketing Manager of Kish Airlines, said that despite the bureaucratic procedure that claimants have to go through in order to get their dues, airline officials have encouraged the surviving families to file for their claims and to seek the airline's assistance should they require further guidance.

"We have observed that despite our encouragement, some families refuse to approach or coordinate with us because they are scared to ask questions about their claims," Noufal disclosed.

Mohammed Navid Musba, who lost four family members in the tragedy, confirmed that the process was tedious because they had to go to one agency after another both in Dubai as well as in India for the documents to be completed.

"We are just grateful that we were able to rely on the officials of Kish Airlines. They have assisted us all throughout the process and have guided us in as far as the procurement of required papers are concerned," Musba said.

According to Musba, with the help of his cousin who is based in Dubai, they were able to gather all the documents from the Indian consulate here, Dubai Police and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. These documents, in turn, were sent to India where they had to go through another system of bureaucracy involving the acquisition and attestation of certificates before they were finally able to submit them for the filing of claims.