AFP-JIJI

Relatives of Malaysia Plane Crash Victims Mark 10 Years Since Disappearance

AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File
Journalists take images of part of the reconstructed forward section of the fuselage after the presentation of the Dutch Safety Board’s final report into what caused Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to break up high over Eastern Ukraine, during a press conference in Gilze-Rijen, Netherlands, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2015 The Dutch government has spent more than 166 million euros ($180 million) dealing with the aftermath of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014.

AFP-Jiji

17:34 JST, March 3, 2024

Relatives of passengers on a Malaysia Airlines plane that mysteriously vanished 10 years ago pushed for a new search Sunday as they spoke of enduring grief and the struggle to find closure.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 people, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.

About 500 relatives and their supporters gathered Sunday at a shopping centre near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for a “remembrance day”, with many visibly overcome with grief.

Some came from China, where almost two-thirds of the passengers of the doomed plane were from.

“The last 10 years have been a nonstop emotional rollercoaster for me,” Grace Nathan, a 36-year-old Malaysian lawyer whose mother, Anne Daisy, 56, was on the flight, told AFP.

Speaking to the crowd, she called on the Malaysian government to conduct a new search.

“MH370 is not history,” she said.

Liu Shuang Fong, 67, from China’s Hebei province lost her 28-year-old son Li Yan Lin, who was also a passenger on the plane.

“I demand justice for my son. Where is the plane?” said Liu, who flew to Malaysia for the event.

“The search must go on,” she added.

A near three-year search covering 120,000-square kilometres (46,000-square miles) in the Indian Ocean found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.

The Australian-led operation was suspended in January 2017.

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt for MH370 in 2018, but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.