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MALAYSIA TODAY FORMALLY declared the passengers and crew of missing flight MH370 to be presumed dead, a step that it said opens the door for compensation payments but which was angrily rejected by distraught relatives.
Malaysian authorities and the airline had until now refrained from drawing firm conclusions about the fate of the plane and its 239 passengers and crew, as many desperate next-of-kin continue to insist it may have landed safely somewhere.
But today’s declaration that MH370 was an “accident” was essentially a formal announcement that the plane had indeed crashed somewhere after its disappearance on March 8 and that all aboard had perished.
“It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the government of Malaysia, we officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident,” civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a televised announcement.
“All 239 of the passengers and crew on board MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” he added.
Urging relatives to move forward, he said it was “important that families try to resume normal lives”.
Malaysia Airlines later said it would begin contacting families to proceed with a “fair and reasonable” compensation process.
But Sarah Bajc, whose partner Philip Wood was on board the plane, was one of several relatives who poured scorn on the announcement.
“I think they are lying,” she said of the Malaysian government and airline.
“It could very well be that the plane crashed. But there is no evidence, and until there is evidence we just can’t believe them. It is impossible to bring any closure until we have proof.”
Many relatives have consistently accused Malaysia’s authoritarian government and its flag carrier of a chaotic and bungled response to the plane’s initial diversion that allowed the jet to disappear, and a subsequent cover-up. Those charges are strenuously denied.
The plane vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in one of history’s great aviation mysteries.
Malaysia’s government says satellite data indicates the plane inexplicably detoured to the remote southern Indian Ocean, which they suspect was due to “deliberate” action onboard.
But no evidence has turned up as to the fate of the plane, despite an ongoing Australian-led search of the supposed crash region — the most expensive search and rescue operation in history.
Whatever happened, aviation analyst Gerry Soejatman said the declaration is important to allow all parties to move forward in the baffling case.
“Unless the declaration is made, it will be tough to initiate certain legal steps for insurance matters to take place,” he said.
“It’s a hard step for (families) to accept, but they have to bear in mind that someone has to pay them and everyone has to move on somehow. It’s not easy but this is a fact.”
Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese nationals, and their furious accusations that Malaysia had concealed information drew China’s government into the fray, straining bilateral ties when Beijing criticised the disaster response.
Speaking after Azharuddin’s announcement, Chinese premier Li Keqiang called the loss of MH370 a “great misfortune”.
“We also hope Malaysia can keep its promises to continue the investigation of the event, pay compensation and also comfort the families. But most importantly, they should use all means to try to find the victims,” he said.
Malaysian authorities say they launched investigations immediately after the disappearance, but they have so far released no findings, infuriating families.
Bajc said she was never contacted by Malaysian authorities, and knows nobody who was.
Many also question the theory that the flight veered toward the Indian Ocean. Azharuddin, however, said Malaysia would “forge ahead” with the search effort.
The government’s awkward handling of today’s announcement also angered relatives, who have accused authorities and the airline of insensitivity in the past, and drew harsh criticism on social media.
A hastily scheduled press conference to announce the news was abruptly abandoned earlier today after several family members rushed to the venue demanding to know why they were not briefed ahead of the public announcement.
The government later said separate arrangements had been made to communicate with kin, but relatives who spoke to AFP said they had not been contacted.
Elaine Chew, whose husband Tan Size Hiang was on the missing flight, said Malaysia’s declaration is a blow to suffering families.
“I have a six-year-old daughter. I have told her that her father is missing. She wants him back for her birthday on March 14. How do I explain this to a six-year-old girl, all of a sudden?” she said.
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In fairness most accept those on that flight are dead but it would be nice to know what happened to them.
Without getting into conspiracy theories . I find it very difficult to understand how nothing has been found/washed up/spotted at all.
Even if the aircraft hit the sea there would be some debris somewhere.
It’s not exactly a small aircraft and there was luggage as well as components that would float.
It’s some mystery.
Sorry Mike, you cant speculate about what happened to MH370 without falling down the old ‘rabbit hole’.
Anyone who thinks that U.S. intel agencies dont know the exact location of every single modern Boeing everywhere on the planet is living in cloud cuckoo land.
Read up on Boeing’s “uninterruptible autopilot” patents.
I don’t know what happended to MH370 but I do know this: The US does know exactly what happened.
Seriously Stephen,we can speculate conspiracy theories for weeks and I’m not rubbishing any body’s theories but I personally (and I emphasise “personally”) just can’t get my head around all the organised theories. What/who would benifit from the capture/destruction of the aircraft.
Either way it’s one of the strangest mysteries in the world so far and if there is one thing humans love,it’s a mystery.
Stephen,respectfully, you are full of chit….No debris, no oil slick on a perfectly calm ocean(the storms weren`t happening at the time),no radar emission from the worlds biggest power that has the whole Pacific ocean covered with satellite intelligence, not even a beep from a black box? – Black boxes do not just disappear! – they are built to last for at least 3 months,even in deep water, this thing has false flag written all
when you smell Bullchit, you have to call what you see.
is all part of the NWO- Divide and conquer
Sorry, stephen , i meant to say Mike
UFO’s might have taken it
The plane that was blown out of the sky over the Ukraine, happened to have 100 of the top scientists in the world of communicable diseases heading towards a meeting in another country, Riddle me this, .
Why did professional people from all over the world choose to meet in Holland,and then jointly fly out to Argentina for a conference on World diseases? SurelyThey could have come from their own countries and made their way to the meting Via their own countries Airlines
Check the Passenger manifests for these flights involved,
Oh gawwwd….Seriously,why me.
Is there some kind of norton or avg anti looneyware I could invest in.
Nothing Personal Mike, sorry, I just think that this thing is bigger than we will ever be
New World Order?? No offence or anything, but did you get measured up for your tinfoil hat yet?
There is no proof that this plane did crash. The plane still had enough fuel to fly another 2,200 miles after its communication devices were turned off. It is still a major mystery.
Yesterday I was listening to the radio and the expert said they had tracked the plane till it was “running out of fuel”. I remember this because I thought it was odd that someone whether a hijacker or a crew member would take a plane and fly it round till it ran out of fuel. Very strange.
My sympathy to the relatives and friends.
In fairness what else can they do! A plane vanishes without a trace, zilch nothing, must be very hard for the families. I get the presumed dead, but an accident!!!
Terrorism I don’t think so- why not claim responsibility for it – that was the point of it
And I think – in realistic terms- that plane was pretty small in relation to the vast sea it was ment to
Have crashed into- also the fact that they don’t know where it went – on autopilot or communications turned off deliberately- conspiracy theorists could point to any amount of different things
With no evidence to disprove it- but what is sure is the plane is gone – the passengers/ crew are most likely deceased either through foul play or accident – lots of aircraft have disappeared and never been located – this disappearance with technology today however is unusual
Surely if it had crashed especially into the ocean some part of it would have surfaced by now I just don’t get it, there’s more to this than meets the eye god help the families
It’s horrific for their families. In all fairness we have to presume all crew and passengers are dead. It’s almost a year and there’s no contact. All those who think the lack of evidence is suspicious, didn’t a shark wash up the other day that they weren’t even sure existed? The sea is a powerful being. Never underestimate it…
Thought and prayers with the families at this difficult time.
Oh well. At least they wont have to go thru it a 2nd time
The safest month to fly is in May but in a recession and austerity is there ever a safe time to fly but that is my view.
Michael Sands the only part of the world experiencing a recession is the EU and the USA, in the rest of the world it’s been business as usual
Ah yeah i was over in Iraq and Syria last weekend, place is flourishing!
Russia is an exremely aggressive state. Thousands of russian soldiers being “on vacation with hundred tanks, aniaircraft emplacements and heavy artillery guns” wage a real war against free Ukraine. These degenerates downed MH-17 with 298 unhappy victims.
Nadiya Savchenko is a 33 year-old Ukrainian female pilot kidnapped by Russia-supported insurgents in eastern Ukraine on June 18, 2014 and handed to Russian authorities who groundless charged her with an alleged killing of two Russian journalists that had died during combat. Being a prisoner of war, she is held by Russia in violation of Geneva Conventions and treated as a common criminal. The Russian side refuses to free her. Nadiya is on hunger strike and her life is in danger. Ukrainians know she is a victim of the Putin’s regime. Be on the side of Good, help Nadia!
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/help-free-nadiya-savchenko/NS7bHz0T
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