By P Prem Kumar
KUALA LUMPUR
Relatives of Chinese passengers presumed dead on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 gathered outside the airline’s office in Kuala Lumpur Friday – in what they say will be the first of many protests to demand answers.
"We do not want the compensation,” Juliet Wong Mei Chuan told the Anadolu Agency, referring to the money due to families after the Malaysian government declared the flight officially missing last month.
“We want to know what happened to the flight. How can Malaysia declare that it is an accident while no signs of debris have been found?"
The families are demanding a clearer explanation of the tragedy and details of what led the government to declare an accident following the plane's disappearance after taking off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8 last year.
Ten months of searching the Indian Ocean, where the Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed, has not resulted in any positive indication of what happened to the aircraft or its 239 passengers and crew, including 152 Chinese.
Fifteen relatives of missing Chinese passengers gathered outside Malaysia Airlines’ head office Friday clad in red T-shirts and white caps bearing the slogan "Pray for MH370." A placard read: "Who can tell us what happened?"
Wong said the protesters were the first wave of relatives to come from China, with "more batches arriving in [the] coming days."
The group is demanding an explanation from a senior Malaysia Airlines executive or a high-ranking government representative.
In a statement late Thursday, Malaysia Airlines said senior staff had met three family members, who handed over a letter.
"We will respond to the letter in the next few days,” the company said in a statement. “Whilst the airline continues to regularly communicate with the families via its Family Communications and Support Center in Beijing, it is in no position to provide any further clarification or technical information on the fate of MH370 other than what is already available in the public domain.”
The search mission has included around 160 ships and aircraft, with experts from 25 countries providing advice.
On Jan. 29, Malaysia declared the flight lost in an accident, with all aboard presumed dead.
Civil Aviation Director General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said: "We have concluded that the aircraft exhausted its fuel over a defined area of the southern Indian Ocean and that the aircraft is located on the sea floor… survivability in the defined area is highly unlikely."
