A day after relatives of passengers aboard missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 were notified, via text, that the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean, protests broke out across Malaysia as skepticism and anger set in.
Yesterday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said the missing plane’s journey ended, but family members want one thing to prove that theory correct — hard evidence.
The announcement brought howls of grief and sadness, but for many, it brought anger towards the Malaysian government and accusations of a cover up.
Hundreds of friends and family members of passengers marched to the Malaysian Embassy in Beijing Tuesday to express their anger and frustration.They claimed they weren’t being told the truth by the Malaysian government about what happened to the plane after it disappeared from radar on March 8.
“If you find something: OK, we accept,” said one relative of a passenger. “But nothing — just from the data, just from analysis.”
But search teams continue to come up empty-handed. On Tuesday Australian authorities continued to search for debris located by both their search teams and Chinese officials. The search was later called off due to stormy weather.
“I suppose I want to see something from the seas,” said Bimal Sharma, an Indian man whose sister Chandrika was on the plane. “I don’t know why I just want to see some debris off the aircraft and the black box to know what exactly happened because there are too many unanswered questions.”
Sharma, who has worked for a long time in the Indian merchant navy, told CNN’s Jim Sciutto that he had “sailed those oceans several times myself.” Sharma said he hoped the search would continue. “Just for the relatives to see that there was something — and it’s conclusive evidence,” he said.
Malaysian Airlines responded to the protests and demands for answers, announcing Tuesday that it has offered family members financial support of $5,000 for each passenger aboard the ill-fated flight. They are also preparing to make additional payments as the prolonged search continues.
CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told reporters the airline shares in the families’ grief. “We all feel enormous sorrow and pain,” he said Tuesday. “Sorrow that all those who boarded Flight MH370 on Saturday 8th March, will not see their families again. And that those families will now have to live on without those they love.”
We’ll keep you updated with the latest in this tragic situation.
SOURCE: CNN | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
