Angry kin of Chinese passengers on MH370 march on Malaysian embassy

BEIJING -- Scores of angry relatives of the Chinese passengers aboard Flight MH370 set out on a protest march to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing Tuesday to demand more answers about the crashed plane's fate.

Around 200 family members, some in tears, linked arms and shouted slogans including "The Malaysian government are murderers" and "We want our relatives back."

The embassy is about four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the Lido Hotel, where meetings have been taking place throughout the drama.


A new chapter opened late on Monday when Malaysia said the plane had crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Chinese authorities normally keep a very tight rein on any protests in Beijing.

Scores of black-clad uniformed police officers were blocking traffic at the diplomatic mission, their walkie-talkies abuzz.

A relative who refused to give his name, but who has been one of the unofficial leaders of the Flight MH370 group, told AFP that the police "would have known" about the demonstration.

"We are still discussing with the police what we are going to do," he told AFP. "Maybe they are preparing for us to arrive."

Earlier, the relatives boarded large shuttle buses bringing them from various hotels to the Lido, intending to take them to the diplomatic mission, but dozens of police surrounded the vehicles and prevented them from driving off, leading them to march instead.

"We are going to protest at the Malaysian embassy," one man told AFP as he joined some 200 other relatives to board the buses at the hotel where they had gathered throughout the 17-day ordeal.

One family member was holding a loudspeaker and urging journalists to head to the embassy, while others stood in a group, somber and motionless, many holding pre-prepared printed placards and wearing "Pray for MH370" T-shirts.

"We want our families," read one placard. Others read "Son: mother and father's heart is broken, hurry home" and "Husband, hurry home. What am I and our son going to do?"

The protest did not appear to be spontaneous, as at least a dozen police cars were waiting nearby at the Lido.

The officers were standing in a row behind a sign reading: "Traffic restrictions, vehicles take a circular route." A policeman refused to say why the traffic restrictions had been imposed when asked by an AFP reporter.

The move to protest outside the embassy came hours after relatives reacted with grief and anguish as Malaysia confirmed their worst fears about the flight.

In dramatic scenes at the Lido Hotel, stretcher-bearing paramedics were drafted in to tend to family members devastated by the news, with at least two people carried out.

China has demanded that Kuala Lumpur hand over the satellite data that led it to conclude that the Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines flight crashed at sea and that none of the 239 people aboard survived.

Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese.

source: interaksyon.com

Angry kin of Chinese passengers on missing Malaysian jet demand info

BEIJING -- Chinese relatives of passengers on a Malaysia Airlines flight missing between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing on Saturday angrily accused the airline of keeping them in the dark, while state media criticized the carrier's poor response.

Relatives were taken to a hotel near Beijing airport, put in a room and told to wait for information from the airline, but none came. Malaysia Airlines said at least 152 of the 227 passengers on flight MH370 were Chinese.

About 20 people stormed out of the room at one point, enraged they had been given no information.

"There's no one from the company here, we can't find a single person. They've just shut us in this room and told us to wait," said one middle-aged man, who declined to give his name.

"We want someone to show their face. They haven't even given us the passenger list," he said.

Another relative, trying to evade a throng of reporters, muttered: "They're treating us worse than dogs."

Amid chaotic scenes, an unidentified Malaysia Airlines official spoke to reporters for just a few minutes without taking questions before leaving.

"We are working with authorities who have activated the search and rescue teams," the official said. "Our thoughts and prayers are deeply with the affected passengers and their family members."

Adding to the confusion, the official mentioned a rumor that the Chinese government has already denied -- that the aircraft had landed in the southern Chinese city of Nanning.

"There has been speculation that the aircraft has landed in Nanning. We are working to verify the authenticity of the report of others," the official said.

Some Chinese media reported that he meant a place in Vietnam called Nanming. It was unclear exactly what he was talking about.

Chinese media outlets took to their official Weibo microblogs to criticize the airline for taking so long to announce what was going on and for refusing to answer questions.

"Malaysia Airlines, why did you wait for five hours after losing contact with the aircraft to first announce the news, and why did you only have a news conference after almost 13 hours?" the official Xinhua news agency wrote on one of its Weibo accounts.

Sanved Kolekar, an Indian working in Beijing, stood stunned at the airport where he was waiting for his parents who were coming over on a visit.

"My parents are on the flight, they were supposed to come here at 6.30, I don't know what happened," he said. "They haven't given me any information, it's very difficult because I don't understand the local language."

Malaysia Airlines told passengers' next of kin to come to Kuala Lumpur's international airport with their passports to prepare to fly to the crash site, which has still not been identified.

About 20-30 families were being kept in a holding room at the airport, where they were being guarded by security officials and kept away from reporters.

Malaysia Airlines said people from at least 14 nationalities were among the 227 passengers.

Chinese media said at least 24 artists and their family members were aboard, returning from an art exchange forum, including a well-known calligrapher.

At least two names on a passenger list released by Beijing police appeared to have been redacted, with the names pixelated out, leading to online speculation that they could have been ethnic Uighurs, a Muslim people from the restive far western Chinese region of Xinjiang.

The government has not confirmed this, and it was not possible to reach Beijing police for comment.

source: interaksyon.com