KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 14 — MH370 next-of-kin group Voice370 has asked for “a fair and adequate compensation” from national carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS), after one of its founders rejected a US$50,000 (RM163,000) initial cash offer.

Danica Weeks, the widow of a New Zealander MH370 victim, was previously reported by Australian paper Perth Now as saying she had to fill up a questionnaire as a condition, but had then rejected the money after receiving legal advice.

“We are left asking ‘is any life worth so little?’ No sum of money, no matter how great, can compensate the families for our losses. No amount of money can ever take the pain away. True justice cannot be measured by money,” Voice370 was quoted telling Kiwi paper New Zealand Herald yesterday.

“Malaysia Airlines cannot undo this tragedy. However, a fair and adequate compensation for all would reflect the magnitude of the effect this tragedy has had on our lives and should be commensurate to this being the worst air tragedy the industry has ever seen,” the group added.

Voice370 also said that finding out what happened to MH370 and why would have a greater value than the compensation.

Weeks is the widow of Christchurch-born Paul Weeks, one of the 239 people assumed dead after the Beijing-bound flight disappeared under mysterious circumstances on March 8.

Officials believed the Boeing 777-200 plane ended its run in the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite data analysis, and Australia is currently leading a multi-nation underwater search in the icy waters to the far west of its shores.

A MAS spokesman however told New Zealand Herald today that the money was offered in good faith and had no strings attached to it.

“An Advance Compensation Payment of US$50,000 has been offered to the families of each passengers on board MH370 to alleviate any immediate financial hardship they may be facing,” the unnamed MAS representative was quoted saying.

“The payment and amount is being made in recognition of a non-binding, though widely followed and wholly appropriate international practice, with the payment being part of and to be offset against the final damages payable.

“The payment being offered is not conditional on the families waiving any rights to claim further compensation from the airline and the families remain free to take whatever further legal action they deem appropriate. However in order to receive the payment full personal details have been requested to ensure that the payment is made to the correct legally entitled beneficiary or next of kin,” the MAS official was quoted telling the Kiwi paper in an emailed statement.

Noting that some kin of the victims had been hesitant, the airline spokesperson gave an assurance that full compensation would be offered even if they did not accept the initial advance payment.

“The families are at liberty to either accept or reject the offer and the families were fully advised of this when the offer was made. The families were also advised that can accept the payment later if they so wish,” he added.

But the spokesman did not disclose when the final compensation would be paid.

Voice370 has repeatedly cast doubt on the official line that the plane is submerged in the southern Indian Ocean; pressing investigators to cast a wider net in their search for the missing plane to get to the bottom of its disappearance.

Last week, the head of Emirates Airways, Sir Tim Clark, added to the controversy in an interview with German magazine Der Spiegel.

The civil aviation industry veteran suggested for investigators to relook past data analyses even as an international search for the MAS plane moves further south this week.