KL-Beijing flight missing
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E-mail China.org.cn, March 8, 2014
China.org.cn: Malaysian Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya on the afternoon of March 8 said flight MH370 still remains completely off the radar. He added all Malaysian Airlines flights will resume normal operation, according to Reuters.
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| Anxious family members wait in Lido Hotel [Photo / Xinhua] |
According to a China News Service update, the Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng has called an emergency meeting with envoys from Malaysia and Vietnam in light of the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger plane. The attending press and distressed families of those on board remain uncertain and are still waiting for any updates.
According to the official Malaysian Airlines website, the airline has issued a correction in regards to the nationalities of all those on board. They show that the number of Indonesian passengers was in fact seven, instead of the earlier reported 12, and five more on board held the Indian nationality.
According to United Morning News, the Singapore Air Force has dispatched a C130 Hercules transport plane to search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight.
According to the Malay Mail, the CEO of Malaysian Airlines announced they had managed to contact 80 percent of passengers' relatives.
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Xinhua: The head of Malaysia's Ministry of Transport announced at a press conference on the afternoon of March 8 that Malaysia has dispatched its navy to conduct a search and rescue operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777-200.
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South China Sea Rescue Bureau: The Bureau's latest update regarding the Boeing 777-200, reads that the vessels from the South China Sea Rescue Bureau are ready for an immediate departure to the alleged crash site of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight and have received instructions regarding a possible rescue operation.
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China.org.cn: Many families of those on board the Malaysia Airlines flight are currently waiting for any news or updates on their relatives at Beijing's Lido Hotel. Emotions are running high as they have received no information from the airline, not even a list of the names of those on board of the missing aircraft.
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| Many reporters wait for more information and updates about the missing Malaysian Airlines flight inside Beijing's Lido Hotel where the family members of passengers and the airlines staff have gathered in the evening of March 8, 2014. [Photo by Zhang Rui / China.org.cn] |
Many at the venue are crying in desperation, checking their messages over and over again, without even a chair to sit on. Airline representatives remain nowhere to be seen. The waiting families are demanding the airline takes up its responsibilities and provides them with the latest updates now.
Malaysia Airlines is currently in touch with the different search and rescue teams to determine the plane's location.
The flight's captain was 53-year-old Malaysian Zaharie Ahmad Shah who joined the airline in 1981 and had gathered a total of 18,365 flight hours. First officer on board was 27-year-old Malaysian Fariq Ab. Hamid who joined the airline in 2007 and had thus far gathered a total of 2,763 flight hours.
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| Photo of Zaharie Ahmad Shah (R) and Fariq Ab [Photo / Ifeng] |
Malaysia Airlines is cooperating with emergency services and authorities and staff is now contacting the families of those on board the missing Boeing 777-200.
Our journalist Zhang Rui added that the missing flight had on board 239 people in total, of which 227 were passengers (including two infants) and 12 were crew members. Passengers stemmed from 14 countries, with 154 Chinese citizens (Chinese mainland: 153, Taiwan: one).
Latest update from the South China Sea Rescue Bureau. The media have wrongfully reported that two rescue vessels had been dispatched earlier today, at 10:49 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. from Xisha and Haikou respectively, as these boats were leaving for Anchorage. The South China Sea Rescue Bureau is currently preparing to send out three standby rescue vessels.
According to our correspondent Zhang Rui, Malaysia Airlines spokesperson Liu Guohua believes the plane may have landed on Vietnam's Nanming area and therefore as of yet still refuses to use the word "crash."
