Kini Nsom
22 December 2008
Families of the victims of the Mbanga Pongo plane crash have accused government of deliberately delaying the report of the crash to cheat them of their right to sue for compensation.
One of the victims, Madam Yvette Fru, who lost her husband in the May 5, 2007, plane crash, said the delay in publishing the findings was causing them more pain.Meanwhile, the lawyer for some of the victims, Barrister John Fru Nsoh, has warned that his clients will lose the right to sue the Boeing Company if the report is not released before May 2009.
Speaking to The Post over the weekend in Yaounde, the Douala based lawyer said families of the victims have the right to sue for compensation if the report indicates that the plane crash was caused by a technical fault.
According to international aviation convention, the lawyer pointed out, his clients have only two years, starting from the date of the crash to sue the Aircraft Company for compensation. He said, if the government delays the report and publishes it only after May 2009, it will have no use to the victims.
On the other hand, he said if the findings are published earlier, indicating that the crash was due to a technical fault, the victims will sue the Boeing Company and General Electronics jointly and severally. Boeing is the company that built the body of the plane while General Electronics is the company that fabricated the engine.
Barrister Fru Nsoh who is defending the victims in collaboration with a US law firm in Seattle, Washington, wondered what was holding back government from publishing results of the crash that claimed 114 lives.
Two months after the Mbanga Pongo crash in the outskirts of Cameroon's economic capital, Douala, another plane crash took place in Tokyo-Japan. Its findings, he said, were published three months later. He wondered what was holding back the findings of the Mbanga Pongo plane crash even after the black box of the plane was retrieved and sent to Canada for examination.
He said it was the responsibility of government to release the results for victims to lay claims for compensation. He revealed that insurance has already been paid to the families of some victims while many others were still negotiating.
It should be recalled that the crash that took place in May 2007, took away the lives of 114 people amongst which over 30 were Cameroonians.
Monday, 22 December 2008 at 01:04 PM in News | Permalink
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The engine maker I believe is General Electric (GE). I do not think that General Electronics, if it exists makes jet engines. Thanks,