Relatives of the Mangalore plane crash victims could be entitled to BD62,000 ($164,430) in compensation, it has emerged.

158 passengers were killed when an Air India Express Flight from Dubai crash-landed and burst into flames at Mangalore International Airport in May.

The plane, carrying 166 passengers and crew, overshot the so-called 'table-top' airstrip, which sits on a hill surrounded by deep gorges just 30 metres from the runway.

News of the payout came as a Bahrain resident, whose sister Rama Satheesh Shetty, 44, was among those killed, yesterday confirmed his family had received compensation from the Indian authorities.

Indian Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel earlier announced the families affected could receive compensation of up to 7.4 million rupees, as per the country's laws, which make airlines liable for the injury or death of passengers.

Kerala Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan yesterday urged the Indian government to take urgent steps to speed up compensation for bereaved families.

He spoke out after reports claimed the airline's demand that the payouts be based on the income profile of each victim was holding up the process.

The chief minister said in a letter to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh that families of the victims were entitled to at least 7 million rupees (BD58,000).

Most of the passengers were from the Indian states of Kerala and Karnataka, who were working in Gulf countries.-TradeArabia News Service