A court in Beijing has begun hearing compensation cases brought by the families of dozens of Chinese who died aboard a Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared nearly 10 years ago.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people - mostly from China - en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
More than 40 families have filed lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls Royce and insurance group Allianz, state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The families' lawsuits are aimed at compensation and finding the truth behind the flight's disappearance, according to Zhang Qihuai, a lawyer, quoted by CCTV.
It is not clear what jurisdiction the Chinese court has to enforce the damages claims against the defendants.
Malaysia's transport ministry and Malaysia Airlines declined to comment on the hearings to AFP.
Almost no trace of the plane was found in a 120,000 square kilometer search area in the Indian Ocean, with only some pieces of debris collected.
The Australian-led operation, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017.
Despite sub-zero temperatures in Beijing, several relatives of missing people, wrapped in winter coats, were willing to talk to journalists.
Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, said the opening of the hearing was "very comforting and a turning point".
"The survival of the relatives during these ten years, the deterioration of their living conditions... This really makes us very sad. So I hope that the legal relief will be implemented as soon as possible. It is not difficult," he added.
"Ten years was really unbearable for us," Jiang noted. /BGNES
