After 3 years, search for MH370 suspended; families cry foul

THE ARDUOUS underwater search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 was suspended Tuesday, nearly three years after the plane vanished mysteriously over the Indian Ocean with 239 people, including five Indians, angering the grieving families who termed the move “irresponsible.”

The three countries had been leading the massive underwater search for Flight MH370, which disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board.

“Accordingly, the underwater search for MH370 has been suspended. The decision to suspend the underwater search has not been taken lightly nor without sadness,” the statement said.

Reacting to the development, K S Narendran, who lost his wife, Chandrika Sharma, said he was “perplexed and disappointed.”

“I’m personally extremely disappointed. I feel that this decision has been the betrayal of a commitment that the government made to the families. I think they have vanished on their commitment,” he told BBC.