LAWSUITS are mounting against Singapore Airlines Ltd. (SIA) following a crash last year in Taiwan in which 83 people were killed.

The Chicago-based Nolan Law Group, said on its website that it now represents more than 30 victims and families of victims of Flight SQ006 which crashed on takeoff at Taipei's international airport on October 31.

Ninety-six people on board, including the three pilots, survived the crash. The law firm said the claims are for wrongful death, injuries, income loss and psychological trauma.

An SIA spokesman declined to comment on the legal action, saying "these are private and legal matters." SIA has accepted full responsibility for the crash, but sought further answers on why it happened.

Manuel Ribbeck, a lawyer for the Nolan Group, told the Straits Times that the law firm is advising victims against accepting offers of compensation from SIA because they are inadequate.

"Some clients can no longer travel for work as they are scared to fly. Some families have lost their breadwinners through death or injury," Ribbeck said.

SIA has offered US$400,000 to the families of those who died and 20,000 dollars to passengers and crew who escaped unhurt.

The newspaper said the Nolan Group has filed eight civil suits so far, with another four suits filed by other American law firms -- all of them in California.

In one lawsuit, US citizen Rem Phang, who suffered serious injuries, is seeking more than US$1 million in damages from SIA.

His wife is seeking separate damages, claiming her husband's injuries have led to loss of income and deprived her of "companionship and conjugal relations", the Nolan Group said on its website report.

The suit accuses SIA of being "negligent in the operation and control of the aircraft".

The Boeing 747-400 bound for Los Angeles crashed when taking off from a runway closed for repairs at Chiang Kai-shek International Airport during a typhoon. It slammed into construction equipment and exploded.

Investigators last week released a report declaring some facilities at the airport did not meet international standards, but said another report would address the cause of the accident.