Malaysia announced on Monday night that Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8 while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was lost in the southern Indian Ocean. MAS informed families of the 239 passengers and crew members that the plane was assumed to have crashed with no survivors.
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived,” the airline said in a SMS message. We must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean,”
Shortly after, Prime Minister Najib Razak addressed a press briefing that was hastily scheduled.
“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path,” he told reporters.
“Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth. This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” said Mr Najib.
He said MAS has briefed the families and Malaysia will hold another press conference on Tuesday. He urged the media to respect the families’ privacy and to give them space and time to grieve over their losses. “For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time,” he said.
“We wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation,” he added.
Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8. No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since, but much debris has been found in remote waters off Australia which might be part of the missing plane.
MAS said on Monday night that the multinational search operation will continue, as authorities seek answers to the questions which remain. “We would like to assure you that Malaysia Airlines will continue to give you our full support throughout the difficult weeks and months ahead,” it added.
MH370: Closure brings little comfort to grieving loved ones
The family of aviation engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat could not control their emotions, bursting into tears as they listened to the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft in which their loved one was on is believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.
At the Everly Putrajaya hotel here, Mohd Khairul Amri’s father Selamat Omar, who usually spoke to pressmen almost immediately after earlier press conferences, told journalists he needed a moment by himself.
Zamani Zakaria, the father of passenger Ahmad Razahan Zamani, 23, said his family would slowly accept the loss as “the will of Allah”.
“The search for them is now over. At least, we don’t have to wait as it is a torture,” he said when contacted by reporters.
Maira Elizabeth Nari, daughter of Andrew Nari, the chief steward of MH370, took to Twitter after Najib’s announcement.
The teenager’s heart-wrenching tweet, under the handle @Gorgxous, read: “I just don’t know what to say about it :’). God loves you more, daddy.... God loves them more. :’)”
Maira has drawn considerable support ever since she took to Twitter to express her hope that the passengers and crew would return and how she missed her father.
At 10pm last night, Najib announced in a hastily-called press conference that British investigators had confirmed that Flight MH370 went down in the southern Indian Ocean, in a remote location “far from any possible landing sites”.
G. Subramaniam, whose son was on Flight MH370, sounded dazed when The Star called him at home in Klang last night.
His son Puspanathan, 34, a marketing manager with Petronas here, had been on his wayto Beijing for work.
Subramaniam said his relatives had arrived at his home in Telok Panglima Garang near Banting.
A woman’s voice, believed to be Puspanathan’s mother A. Amirtham, was heard wailing in the background during the short interview.
Shocked Malaysia Jet Relatives have 'No Hope Left Now"
Stunned relatives in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur reacted with grief and anguish on Monday as Malaysia confirmed their worst fears by announcing that missing flight MH370 had gone down in the Indian Ocean.
In dramatic scenes in Beijing, stretcher-bearing paramedics were drafted in to tend to family members devastated by the news, which was broken to them by the airline at a hotel where they had gathered throughout the 17-day ordeal.
At least two people were borne out on stretchers, including a woman whose body was shaking, her eyes glazed and heavy with tears, as a family member held her arm.
Cries of deep pain rang out as relatives burst forth, sobbing uncontrollably, while the news left others appearing disoriented, with one man lying on the floor holding his head.
One Chinese relative who spoke to AFP by phone said: "We know we have no hope left now."
Two-thirds of passengers were from China.
Both Malaysia Airlines and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed on Monday that the ill-fated flight, which disappeared on March 8 with 227 passengers and 12 crew, "ended in the southern Indian Ocean."
The conclusion was based on new satellite analysis of the Boeing 777's path. Malaysia's government had previously held out increasingly dim hopes of finding survivors.
In the lobby of a hotel outside Kuala Lumpur where relatives, including many flown in from China by Malaysia Airlines, had gathered, an elderly woman sat down hard on the floor and wept.
"He died too young, I want my son back," she cried out in Mandarin before security escorted her into an elevator.
Subramaniam Gurusamy, 60, whose 34-year-old Malaysian son Puspanathan Gurusamy was on board, had continued to hold out hope of his return throughout the agonising 17-day wait.
"I had the belief that my son would return home safely. But what can be done? This is fate. We must accept it," he told AFP, choking back tears.
- 'They are murderers' -
Some relatives in Beijing lashed out as they left their meeting with the Malaysian flag carrier, with one man throwing punches and kicks at assembled media.
One woman left the room shouting "Murderers! Murderers" and crying uncontrollably as she was held by two other family members, while another swiped at cameramen with her handbag, shouting "Get away!"
At about 2am a group of around 30 relatives came out of the room to meet waiting reporters.
"The Malaysian government, Malaysian Airlines and the Malaysian armed forces are the real murderers who have killed our loved ones," a man said, appearing to read from a prepared statement on a laptop on behalf of the group.
"The relatives of the passengers launch the strongest protest and condemnation" against them, he added.
The man also said the relatives would use "all possible means" to protest.
As the Lido Hotel emptied, a small number of relatives appeared to refuse to accept that their loved ones had died.
"The rational mind sometimes gives way to the emotional mind, and there are some who are still not letting go," a psychologist who was speaking to families told AFP.
- 'No real closure' -
For Sarah Bajc, partner of American passenger Philip Wood, the announcement brought "no real closure" in the absence of confirmed wreckage.
"I need closure to be certain but cannot keep on with public efforts against all odds. I STILL feel his presence, so perhaps it was his soul all along," she said in an emailed message.
In others, the power of denial remained strong. One distraught woman in Beijing approached reporters saying she believed her daughter was being "hidden", and had not died.
Malaysian Maira Nari, the teenage daughter of Chief Steward Andrew Nari, and who has captured hearts in her country with poignant and hopeful tweets calling for her father's return, put on a brave face.
"God loves you more, daddy.... God loves them more," she tweeted.
"I will never forget the look on his face when he opened his birthday present the other day. He was so happy!" she added.
On China's hugely popular Weibo microblogging site, a succession of electronic "candles" were lit in tribute to the dead.
"I just can't believe it nor accept it, after having searched so many days, and waited so many days, only to finally receive news of the crash!" wrote one user.
# My deepest condolences to all the victims’ families and loved ones of the passengers and crew of MH370. :(
