An insurance company will initially pay 35,000 baht ($1,044) to relatives of each Burmese migrant worker who died from suffocation in the back of a seafood truck in southern Ranong province, a senior Thai Justice Ministry official said Tuesday.

Suwanna Suwanjutha, director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, said the insurance firm had paid the money to relatives of the migrant workers who died on April 9 due to suffocation.

The incident occurred because the driver apparently failed to turn on the air conditioning in the container, which was normally used to transport frozen food. A total of 121 people had been crammed inside the container only six metres long and 2.2 metres wide.

Mrs Suwanna said the money would be awarded to relatives of 34 of the victims at Burma’s Victoria Point so that they would not have to travel to Thailand to receive compensation. The company is now compiling documents and will pay compensation to relatives of the 20 remaining victims.

Another 65,000 baht will be paid to relatives of each victim in accordance with the Thailand’s automobile accident law if the victims were found to have not committed any crime.

Of the remaining survivors, Thai police investigators have taken 10 of them as witnesses, while others have been repatriated to Burma. (TNA)