MADRID (dpa-AFX) - More than eight years after the Germanwings disaster, Spain's Supreme Court has awarded 14 families higher compensation claims. On March 24, 2015, a co-pilot formerly suffering from depression had deliberately steered the plane into a mountain on the Barcelona-Düsseldorf route in the French Alps. All 150 occupants lost their lives. Most of the victims were from Germany and Spain.

The percentage markup on compensation set for car accidents by the 2019 Barcelona Regional Court was too low in the case of the 14 plaintiffs, judges in Madrid ruled, according to reports Tuesday evening. Other survivors had reached a settlement with the insurance company.

The Barcelona court had raised the compensation by 25 percent because of the unusual nature of the accident. If a claimant lived in a domestic relationship with one of the victims, a further 20 percent was added; if this was not the case, ten percent. Accordingly, the compensation ranged from 20,625 euros to 105,000 euros, reported the newspaper La Vanguardia.

The Supreme Court considered this insufficient. "Such a small percentage increase in compensation (...) is hardly different from what would be awarded in the case of a traffic accident," the judges wrote. "The prolonged grief that is typical and extremely painful for the loss of a loved one in such a catastrophe is thus not adequately compensated, all the more so because the accident was not accidental but was intentionally caused by a crew member," the ruling stated./ro/DP/ngu