As the 30 days stipulated by law for the beneficiaries of those who lost their lives in the ill-fated Dana Air plane to get the first tranche of payment ($30,000), approaches, the airline said only 34 families out of the 127 that were contacted, have duly completed and submitted their claims’ forms.

The Dana aircraft, MD-83 crashed on June 3 killing all 153 people onboard and some 10 others on the ground.

Dana Air insurers have nine more days to commence payment or fall foul of the law.

In a statement, the airline said, “as at the close of business on Monday, June 25, the company had received completed insurance forms for 34 of the victims, two  of which are our staff members.”

The statement said: “The company has now made direct contact with 118 families who lost loved ones in the accident and has also made contact with the 9 embassies managing communications with the families of those victims from other countries.

“These families and embassies have been sent letters of condolence and the insurance documentation necessary in order to facilitate compensation payments.”

The documentation is necessary for the right beneficiaries to be paid the compensations, Dana Air said.

The statement also said investigations into the cause of the accident are still ongoing and Dana Air continues to offer every form of assistance to the investigating authorities.

On the DNA tests, it said, as per last update on Friday, June 22, 98 percent of DNA samples had been successfully collected and dispatched to a UK laboratory for testing.

The statement also debunked claims that some of its staff have left their jobs.

It said: “Dana Air would like to respond to media coverage suggesting that expatriate staff of the airline have left the company’s employment since the accident. Of the over 450 staff of the airline, most of whom are Nigerians, not one has left the company’s employment.

“Dana Air is committed to finding out the cause of the unfortunate accident and some of our expatriate staff are among the airline’s officials currently assisting the investigating authorities in this regard.

“All Dana Air staff are voluntarily assisting in one way or the other, especially with respect to visiting the affected families and providing information on processing of insurance claims.”

Posted by admin on Jun 29 2012. Filed under Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry