4 more MH370 families sue MAS hours before deadline

Relatives of passengers onboard the missing MH370 flight at a remembrance day event at a Kuala Lumpur mall. Four more families have decided to sue MAS over the plane's disappearance – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 7, 2016.With just hours to go before the deadline for legal action, four more families of MH370 passengers have filed negligence suits against Malaysia Airline System Berhad over the plane's disappearance, which is believed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean two years ago.

The passengers are businessman Chen Wei Hoing, 43, consultant Tan Sioh Peng, 41, mortgage consultant Chew Kar Mooi, 31, engineer and part-time music teacher Chan Huan Peen, 45 and electrical engineer Tee Lin Keong, 50.

They were among was the 239 passengers and crew on board the Beijing-bound flight from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.

Lawyer Americk Sidhu, who represented the 17 plaintiffs, said the next-of-kin were widows, parents and minor children.

"All are seeking dependency claims and other relief deemed fit by the court," the lawyer told The Malaysian Insider, adding that the suits were filed in the High Court on March 3.

Americk said the plaintiffs only named Malaysian Airline System Berhad as the defendant.

Today is the last day for aggrieved parties to file any civil suit as under the Montreal Convention the action must be filed within two years of the incident.

Last Friday, 12 families, including four from overseas, initiated legal proceedings against the company over the disappearance of the aircraft.

Four families had also filed similar action and this means at least 20 cases were registered in Malaysia.

Only one was settled out of court in June last year.

Besides MAS, the plaintiffs have also included the Department of Civil Aviation director-general Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, air force chief and the Malaysian government as defendants.

Apart from negligence, the plaintiffs are suing for breach of contract, loss of financial support, bereavement, funeral expenses and unspecified damages.

All the plaintiffs said the airline and the authorities had breached their obligations in providing a safe flight.

MAS had on March 24, 2014 sent text messages to the next-of-kin that all evidence suggested that the plane had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.

Last January 29, Azharuddin had on behalf of the Malaysian government, declared MH370 to be an accident and that all passengers and crew on board were presumed dead.

Malaysia is a signatory to the 1999 convention, under which the national airline is liable, unless it proved that it was completely without fault, or that the mishap was caused by a third party. – March 7, 2016.