Boeing to pay bereaved 737 families $144,500 each

Siblings Zinet Adem, 45, of Beltsville, MD left, and Beza Alemu, 32, of St. Louis, mourn the loss of their brother, Mulusew Alemu, 36. — Image caption Families are to receive about $144,500 each

Families who lost relatives in fatal Boeing 737 Max air crashes are set to receive about $144,500 (£116,200) each from the company.

Boeing’s financial assistance fund has set aside $50m for direct payments to families of the 347 people who died in the Indonesia and Ethiopia flights.

The rest of the $100m fund, which Boeing announced in July, is to go to education and development programmes.

The fund has started accepting claims, which must be submitted before 2020.

In a statement, Boeing chief executive Dennis Muilenberg called the opening of the fund an “important step” in the firm’s efforts to help families of the people who died in the Boeing 737 Max 8 crashes.

The 737 Max has been grounded since March, as investigators evaluate the airplane’s safety following the fatal crashes.

When Boeing announced the fund in July, attorneys for some families dismissed the response as insufficient.

Many are pursuing the company in court.

Attorney Kenneth R Feinberg, who is in charge of the Boeing fund, said participation is voluntary and will not force families to waive their right to file separate lawsuits against the firm.

Mr Feinberg is well-known for his work distributing money set aside for victims of disasters. He has administered funds for victims of the September 11 attacks and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill among others.