Crash victim's kin wins Boeing suit

$28.45m verdict is first among dozens

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People hold a banner showing pictures of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, during a Senate committee hearing in Washington in April.REUTERS

(REUTERS)

A US jury in the first civil trial over a fatal Boeing 737 Max crash determined Wednesday that the aircraft manufacturing giant owes $28.45 million to the family of a newly married Indian victim.

The case involves the survivors of Shikha Garg of New Delhi, who died in the March 2019 Ethiopian Airlines crash, one of two fatal Max crashes that together claimed 346 lives.

After about two hours of deliberation, a jury in federal court in Chicago returned with an award that included $10 million for grief, $10 million for Garg's pain and suffering, and other compensation.

"We happily accept the verdict. We came here for a jury trial and it's absolutely acceptable," Garg's widower, Soumya Bhattacharya, told AFP.

Boeing expressed regret about the deadly accidents.