Families seek the truth
HEAVY HEARTS: They want search to go on, coastal areas to be combed
FAMILIES of the passengers and crew on board missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 are disappointed with the decision of the tripartite ministerial meeting yesterday to suspend the search for the aircraft, as they are hoping for closure to the tragedy.
A small group gathered outside the Perdana Putra complex here, where the meeting took place, holding placards with pictures of leaders from Australia, China and Malaysia, and urging them to continue looking for the aircraft.
Intan Maizura Othaman, the wife of flight attendant Hazrin Mohamed Hasnan, said she hoped to get any information on MH370 that could solve the mystery of its disappearance.
Even though she had moved on for the sake of her children, she said, the families of those on board deserved an answer as to what had really happened to the aircraft.
“I cling on to the hope that they will tell us what had happened.
“Since the day the aircraft went missing, there have been many unverified stories.
“Some stories that were supposed to be true had turned out otherwise. We just want to know the truth.”
Jacquita Gonzales urged the authorities to return to the drawing board and see what they could come up with to locate the aircraft.
She said she wanted the authorities to consider expanding the search area to include the coastal areas of several countries where aircraft debris had been found.
“If I could do that (comb through the coastal areas), I would do it every day,” said the wife of flight attendant Patrick Gomes.
Grace Nathan, whose mother, Anne Daisy, was among the 239 people on board MH370, said she hoped the search team would continue its efforts along the African coastline, following the drift pattern theory postulation. A group comprising on board MH370 gathering Putra complex in Putrajaya yesterday. Pic by Fariz Iswadi Ismail
“We don’t know how long the suspension (of the search will last). We just want answers.
“We will raise money to get locals to search for credible evidence.
“We want to them to aid in searching the beaches.
“Maybe, we can offer them a reward if they find credible evidence.”
In Kuala Lumpur, Voice 370, an association comprising families of the passengers and crew on board MH370, has appealed to the Malaysian, Australian and Chinese governments not to abandon the search for the aircraft.
In a press conference here yesterday, the group said if an immediate extension of the search could not be carried out, then it should just be suspended and not abandoned,
while obstacles were assessed and addressed.
Grace said Voice 370 had requested that concerted effort be made to source for a wider funding base, which should include contributions from countries whose citizens were on board the aircraft.
“We have been led to believe that the search has been suspended because of a lack of funds.”
K.S. Narendran, from Chennai, India, whose wife, Chandrika Sharma, was among those on board MH370, said given that the search in the last 10,000 sq km of the search area had been hindered by bad weather, locals of East African coastline countries should be on the lookout for potential debris.
Lokman Mustafa, whose sister was on board the aircraft, said he was resigned over the suspension of the search.
However, he said, he still clung on to the hope of getting closure in the near future.
“My hope of the aircraft being found is slowly fading away.
“Somehow, I had anticipated this move (suspension of the search) because so far, the search has not been fruitful.”
Lokman said he was prepared to wait, regardless of how long it took,
to get closure.
“No matter how long it takes, I will wait for the answer so that there is something for me to tell my family.
“I am committed to the long journey involved in finding the answer to the aircraft’s disappearance.”
A visibly upset Syafinaz Hasnan, the sister of flight attendant Mohd Hazrin Hasnan, said she was not surprised with the decision to suspend the search.
“My family and I have stopped hoping for anything.
“We are not hopeful for anything any more and we will not push for the search to be extended.”
Selamat Omar, 63, the father of aviation engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, who was on board MH370, urged the government to consider expanding the search area given the probability that the aircraft had gone down in a different location.
“I really hope that the government carries on with the search.
“They had promised that it would be continued if there was new evidence.
“Maybe, the government could consider expanding the search area near Western Australia’s coast.” Additional reporting by Farezza Hanum Rashid, Awaina Arbee and Naim Zulkifli