TransAsia Airways says that it’s planning to meet on Wednesday with the family members of the victims of flight GE 235, which crashed in Taipei last Wednesday. The airline is hoping to coordinate compensation payments for the deceased.
The TransAsia flight crashed shortly after takeoff from Taipei’s city airport with 58 passengers and crew on board the Kinmen-bound plane. So far, 40 people are confirmed dead, while three others are still missing. A total of 15 people survived the crash.
Airline officials told a press conference on Sunday that the compensation would be the same for everyone who died in the crash.
Following the press conference, the head of TransAsia subsidiary Legend Travel, Liu Chung-chi, offered more details. He said that a Buddhist ceremony would be held on Monday night, and a joint memorial service and funeral on Tuesday. Liu said that once the traditional ceremonies had been held, then the airline will meet with the families to discuss the issue of compensation.
Liu said that the airline had already given the families of the deceased an initial condolence payment of NT$200,000 (about US$6,300) and NT$1.2 million (nearly US$38,000) in funeral subsidies.
Meanwhile, the families of the three missing passengers – two from China and one from Taiwan – have said they hope that the search efforts will continue. The airline and search teams have promised to honor that request.
Also, in breaking with past precedent, Taiwan’s health ministry says that the bodies of the more than two dozen Chinese victims can be sent back to China without an embalming certificate. However, the ministry said that was pending the approval of Chinese authorities.