KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 3): The Malaysian government has spent RM231.45 million in searching for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 as at October this year, according to the Transport Ministry.

However, the Ministry was unable to ascertain the total cost for the searching operation, citing the searching operation is still ongoing.

While for the MH17, Transport Ministry said in a parliamentary written reply today,  that the government has put in RM12.87 million to deal with the MH17 tragedy.

The Transport Ministry said this in response to DAP-Seputeh MP Teresa Kok Suh Sim, who queried on the government's total expenditures in the searching for the missing flight of MH370 and MH17 tragedy.

On the compensation amount paid to the next of kins of the two tragedy, the ministry said it was calculated based on the Montreal Convention 1999 with the subject to proof of loss being bear by each passengers. (dengan pembuktian kerugian yang ditanggung oleh setiap penumpang).

It added Malaysia Airline Bhd (MAB) (formerly known as Malaysia Airlines System Bhd, MAS) had provided advanced compensation payments (ACP) and Crew Assistance Package amounting to US$50,000 (RM214,655) to next of kins as part of the compensation.

To date, a total of 236 and 74 families of the passengers of the MH17 and MH370 had received the compensation respectively, amounting to US$ 16.6 million (RM71.27 million).

MH17, which enroute to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was crashed on July 17, 2014 after being shot down, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.

The flight lost contact about 50 km from the Ukraine–Russia border and crashed near Torez in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine

While the MH370 was disappeared in March 2014 when enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The search for the missing flight is still ongoing at the southern Indian Ocean.