Liberian passenger claims 1 mln USD from Belgian airline for losing baggage
Xinhua, March 9, 2016 Adjust font size:
A United Nations worker from Liberia claimed 1 million U.S. dollars in compensation from the Belgian national airline, Brussels Airlines, for losing his suitcase, Belgian media reported on Tuesday.
Moiffie Kanneh was flying from the United States to Liberia in August 2015 with a stopover in Brussels and was carrying 12,000 U.S. dollars worth of goods, Belgian daily newspaper La Libre Belgique reported.
On his arrival in Monrovia, the employee of the United Nations could not find his suitcase on the conveyor belt. It had contained watches, smartphones, cameras and other goods that were intended as gifts from American relatives to their families in Liberia.
La Libre reports that the intended recipients did not believe that the baggage had been lost and doubted Mr Kanneh's story, to such an extent that he cannot walk freely around his neighbourhood any more.
"Wherever he goes, he is asked where the missing items have gone," one of his lawyers is quoted as saying.
The passenger is now claiming 1.012 million U.S. dollars from the Belgian airline for the harm done.
Brussels Airlines said in a statement: "Our legal department is currently in contact with the traveler whose luggage has not been found despite all the necessary searches."
The airline said it had acted correctly: "We respected the Montreal Convention to provide compensation of 1131 Special Drawing Rights (about 1,430 U.S. dollars) in case of loss of luggage. We also always ask our passengers to declare valuables in advance at the airport. This passenger did not do that." Enditem