Russian regional airline Kogalymavia has paid financial compensation to 64 passengers who were on board the plane that caught fire on New Year's Day, the airline press service said on Friday.
Three people were killed when the Tu-154 aircraft caught fire as it taxied to the runway in the Siberian oil town of Surgut on January 1.
"Airline Kogalymavia continues to make one-off lump-sum payments amounting to 20,000 rubles. To date, 64 people have already received the financial assistance," the airline said in a statement.
There were 134 people including 116 passengers on board the rear-engined plane when the fire broke out in one of the three engines. Forty-four sought medical treatment, 39 of them in hospital.
The fire spread quickly but most of those aboard escaped before it exploded. The plane was completely destroyed by the flames and the airline said on Sunday it was "ready to pay compensation for damage to health and luggage [lost as a result of the accident] in line with current laws."
Transport Minister Igor Levitin said on the day of the accident that the flight crew and airport officials did their best to evacuate the passengers as quickly as possible, but eyewitnesses said emergency exits were closed for a long time and passengers had to jump through flames to get out of the plane.
TYUMEN, January 7 (RIA Novosti)
