Several US, Malaysian, Australian and Chinese law firms have told AFP that they have begun filing suit on behalf of relatives, seeking undisclosed damages.
– ‘My child is safe’ –
A vast Australian-search of 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 square miles) of the southern Indian Ocean seabed has so far failed to locate the wreckage, and authorities plan to end the operation — projected to cost up to $130 million — if no new leads emerge by the time it is completed, expected in July.
The relatives hope that court scrutiny will help reveal answers about what befell the plane.
At the same time, many express misgivings over negotiating compensation while the investigation remains inconclusive, referring to payouts as “blood money, received in exchange for life”.
“I chose to prosecute in order to have my child safely returned to me,” said Gao Xianying, 65, who lost her daughter, son-in-law, and three-year-old granddaughter on the flight.
“I’m convinced that the plane didn’t crash into the Indian Ocean, that it landed somewhere and that my child is safe, living on this earth.”
She would never believe her family’s death until their bodies were found, she said.
“You can scream your excuses until the heavens and the earth come down, for a thousand years or ten thousand, but without concrete evidence I won’t believe it or accept it. I want the truth! Where is the plane? Where are the passengers?” she asked.
Zhang said his clients’ desire for answers to the question of the plane’s fate put them under enormous pressure.
For Gao, the deadline was “unjust and unfair, causing us a lot of mental harm”, and ought not to apply to a case as inconclusive as MH370.
“The date March 8 is like a knife that has stabbed us once again,” she said, wiping away tears.
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