KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Malaysia Airlines' insurer has begun paying the families of passengers of Flight 370 $50,000 each in initial compensation three months after the jet disappeared, Malaysian deputy foreign minister Hamzah Zainudin said Thursday (June 12th), AFP reported.

So far six Malaysian and one Chinese family received the advance payment to which all families of the 239 passengers and crew are entitled, Hamzah said. Talks with 40 more Chinese families are under way, he added.

Full payment to the families, who can claim up to about $175,000, would be made later.

The government was not yet prepared to declare the plane lost, he added.