Mystery surrounds fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370

Relative of Malaysia Airlines passenger cries in Beijing

published 8 March 2014

A MALAYSIA AIRLINES flight has crashed into the sea near Vietnam’s Tho Chu island, according to Vietnamese state media. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was carrying 227 passengers when it lost contact with air traffic control at 18:40 GMT last night. It was supposed to land in the Chinese capital at 22:30 GMT.

Malaysia, Vietnam, China and the Philippines have sent aircraft and ships to mount a search and rescue operation. Among the 14 different nationalities aboard the plane were 152 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians and six Australians.

Hamid Ramlan, a 56-year-old policeman living in the capital Kuala Lumpur, told AFP that his daughter, 34, and son-in-law, 24, were on the flight. "My wife is crying. Everyone is sad. My house has become a place of mourning. This is Allah's will. We have to accept it. But we will from tonight hold special prayers for Allah's help. I want to see my daughter and her husband who were on the flight to Beijing for a holiday.”