Compensation process launched for families of crash victims

China Eastern Airlines has officially launched the compensation process for the crashed Flight MU5735 and requests from family members of the victims will be fully respected, the company said on Sunday.

The plane crashed in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, on Monday afternoon. The 132 people - 123 passengers and nine crew members - onboard the plane were confirmed dead on Saturday night.

"We'll fully respect reasonable demands of the victims' families and negotiate with them in detail," said Liu Xiaodong, head of the publicity department of China Eastern Airlines. "We'll formulate the compensation plan and determine a unified compensation standard."

The airline has set up a special team responsible for compensation and opened a hotline for the victims' families, he said at a news conference in Wuzhou.

Convenience will be offered to the families, and the company will take the initiative to discuss with them either online or offline, he said.

Liu said the company has sent staff to accompany family members and understand their demands face-to-face. Some family members have asked to leave Wuzhou and the airline has offered them transportation, he said.

"We'll continue following demands of those relatives and provide targeted assistance," he said.