In case you forgot, Dana Air Flight 992 is the McDonnell Douglas MD-83 aircraft en route from Abuja to Lagos, Nigeria which crashed on June 3rd 2012, in the Iju-Ishaga neighbourhood of Lagos, demolishing a furniture works and printing press building.
The accident, a combination of engine failure and subsequent forced landing, killed 163 people, ten of them on the ground. Eleven miles from the airport, the MD-83 crashed on its tail. It and the neighborhood went up in flames.
Why do I bring this up now, a little over a year later?
Because 11 families have received $100,000 each–
Because sixty-five families whose compensation payments have not been made, due largely to documentation issues and they are suing Dana Air —
Dana Air claims “95 of 125 families have received interim compensation of $30,000.”
I have been reading rhetoric lauding Dana Air for making what someone calls “unprecedented progress” in paying compensation.
Putting the value of a human life at $100,000 is lowballing the value of life. I am surprised that anyone would be commending such devaluation.
Is the operator looking for a gold medal for forking over a mere $100,000 for a loss of life?
Is this all a life is worth in that part of the world or is this something Dana insurer is declaring a fair compensation?