Families of passengers on the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 have received initial cash payments from the insurers.

Six Malaysian and one Chinese family have received initial compensation payments of $50,000, while insurers are assessing the claims of 40 more Chinese families.

Relatives of all 239 missing passengers can claim up to $175,000 each.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8th as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite an extensive search, no trace of the plane has been found.

Experts are continuing to survey the sea floor east of the Australian city of Perth and are bringing in specialist equipment.

Malaysia Airlines’ insurer, a consortium led by Germany’s Allianz, is making the payments.