Odishatv Bureau
Dubai: At least 10 Indian families based in the UAE are planning to seek compensation from Air India over the Mangalore plane crash that left 158 people dead in 2010.

They are preparing to file a case within two weeks as they will lose their legal right for compensation by the end of next month, The National newspaper reported.
The announcement to this effect comes ahead of the second anniversary of the accident.

The Mangalore Air Crash Victims` Association has urged families to file claims without delay since the Montreal Convention sets a two-year time limit for any claim. "We will be filing the papers soon. No money will compensate what we have suffered and what we imagined for our future with our family," said Santosh Rai, an Abu Dhabi resident who lost his wife, 10-year-old son and nine-month-old daughter in the accident.

"They (Air India) think the more time that passes, people will forget, but it`s almost two years and we have not forgotten. We will never forgive Air India," he said.

On May 22, 2010, the Air India Express flight 812 from Dubai overshot the runway in Mangalore and crashed. The Mangalore Air Crash Victims` Association has also urged families to file claims without delay since the Montreal Convention sets a two-year time limit for any claim.

"We have sent notices to all family members stating that the limitation period is May 22," said Vardaraj Kayangal, the association`s legal adviser. "Some people have already said they will be filing a civil case."

Kayangal said that some people might not approach the civil courts adding that the carrier was believed to have paid a minimum of Rs 2.5 million and as much as Rs 77.5 million to some families.

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