Airlines assigns care and support teams for victims' families

China Eastern Airlines has assigned special teams for each family of the lost passengers onboard the crashed plane for one-on-one care and support, an official of the company said.

Liu Xiaodong, head of the company's publicity department, said at a news conference on Friday that the company has assigned for each family a team of three workers: one from or near the passenger's family's place of residence, one for long-term support and one for financial settlement.

More than 300 staff workers have been assigned to the work, with about 160 in Wuzhou, the crash site in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

The flight, departing from Yunnan province, crashed in Wuzhou on Monday en route to Guangzhou, Guangdong province, with 123 passengers and nine crew members onboard. Liu said the governments of the three provinces have also set up special work groups to assist the families.

In addition, the company has also mobilized experts in healthcare, psychological counseling, information and communication, financial and insurance as well as legal affairs to cater for relatives' specific needs.

He also vowed that the company will do its best to respond to relatives' requests regarding expense reimbursement, life support, itinerary arrangement and settlement.

Zhu Tao, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of China's aviation safety office, said as of 10am Friday, the emergency response command has organized trips for 375 relatives to the crash site for condolences.

The command has also arranged for the remains and remnants, carried out DNA sampling and provided more than 500 psychological counseling for the immediate relatives of the lost passengers. Medical personnel have been on call 24 hours to treat any physical symptoms shown by family members.