MH370 relatives told to return home
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Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has asked the relatives of Chinese passengers aboard flight MH370 to return home.
The airline has been hosting passengers’ next-of-kin at the Lido Hotel in Kuala Lumpur since the aircraft was lost on 8 March. But 55 days on, and with search teams still not having located flight MH370, MAS’ group CEO, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, has asked relatives to return to China.
“Despite such an intensified search operations, probably the largest one in human history, we have to face the hard reality that there is still no trace of the aircraft, and the fate of the missing passengers and crew remains unknown ’til this day,” said Yahya.
“From past experience, we understand the continuing search and investigation would be a prolonged process. While Malaysia Airlines is committed to continuing its support to the families during the whole process, we are adjusting the mode of services and support.
“Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends,” he added.
MAS will also close all its ‘family assistance centres’ by 7 May, and said it will instead keep relatives updated on the progress of the investigation with “telephone calls, messages, the internet, and face-to-face meetings”.
The decision follows the announcement by the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) in Australia that search operations will now enter a “new phase”, with air searches being scaled back and private contractors enlisted to help with the underwater search effort.
It also follows reports of increasing unrest among the families staying at the Lido. Relatives of the Chinese passengers detained 10 MAS staff for more than 10 hours on Friday 25 April, and earlier last week an MAS security official was assaulted by one of the family members – an incident the airline reported to the police.
Approximately 400 relatives of Chinese MH370 passengers have been staying at the Lido Hotel. Of the 227 passengers onboard flight MH370, 153 were Chinese.
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