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MH370 relatives protest at Malaysian embassy in Beijing

Relatives of those on board flight MH370 have protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing....
Newstalk
Newstalk

07.16 25 Mar 2014


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MH370 relatives protest at Mal...

MH370 relatives protest at Malaysian embassy in Beijing

Newstalk
Newstalk

07.16 25 Mar 2014


Share this article


Relatives of those on board flight MH370 have protested outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.

They are accusing authorities of 'deceit' and 'delay' in the operation to find out what happened to the plane which authorities stated yesterday had crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers clashed with police. They were shouting slogans including "the Malaysian government are murderers" and "return our relatives".

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Scuffles broke out as uniformed security personnel attempted to block some of the relatives from reaching reporters, who were being kept in a designated area.

Tania Branigan is the China Correspondent with The Guardian. She told Newstalk Breakfast she has been speaking to some of the relatives.

Meanwhile the Malaysia Airlines' chief executive has said he will decide later whether to resign. At a news conference at Kuala Lumpur airport, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya was asked whether he would stand down over the airline's handling of the disappearance of MH370.

But he said it was a "personal decision" for later, and insisted the airline was doing its best to handle relatives with care and dignity.

"My heart breaks to think of the unimaginable pain suffered by all the families" Mr. Ahmad Jauhari said. "There are no words which can ease that pain".

"Everyone in the Malaysia Airlines family is praying for the 239 souls on MH370 and for their loved ones on this dark day. We extend our prayers and sincere condolences".

He also defended the airline sending text messages to relatives of passengers informing them the plane had been lost.

Seven mistakes in the hunt for missing MH370

The messages were sent shortly before Malaysia's Prime Minister announced on Monday investigators were convinced the jet, with 239 people on board, crashed into the southern Indian Ocean.

"Our sole and only motivation last night was to ensure that in the incredibly short amount of time available to us, the families heard the tragic news before the world did" Mr. Ahmad Jauhari said.

"Wherever humanly possible, we did so in person with the families or by telephone, using SMS only as an additional means of ensuring fully that the nearly 1,000 family members heard the news from us and not from the media".

Bad weather hampers recovery

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) earlier called off the hunt for wreckage from MH370 for the day due to gale force winds, rain and big waves.

"AMSA has undertaken a risk assessment and determined that the current weather conditions would make any air and sea search activities hazardous and pose a risk to crew" it said.

"Therefore, AMSA has suspended all sea and air search operations for today due to these weather conditions". AMSA said the weather was expected to improve in the evening local time.

The Australian navy ship HMAS Success, which tried to find debris seen by a plane and satellite, headed south of the search area to get out of the rough seas.

A search and recovery operation for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean
will resume on Wednesday, March 25.

The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has confirmed the focus is now on search and recovery of any objects related to the ill-fated flight.

Mr. Abbott says his country also wants to help family members feel a sense of closure.


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