ST. PETERSBURG, February 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's transport minister said Saturday the government is considering raising compensations to the families of air crash victims to $75,000.
"We have revised the amount of compensations, and this new sum - a [ruble] equivalent of $75,000 per every passenger killed [in an air crash] - is under consideration now," Igor Levitin said.
Levitin leads a panel probing the August 2006 crash of a Russian Tu-154 jetliner in Ukraine, which claimed the lives of 170 people.
Families of the victims have each been paid 200,000 rubles (a little over $7,600) by regional and federal authorities, and will receive another 300,000 rubles ($11,430) in insurance payouts.
