Families of the passengers and crew on missing Flight MH370 received a text with the crushing news there was no hope left for their loved ones.
Malaysian Prime Minister during a press conference about 4 hours ago said they believe they have located the plane the whole world has been searching for in the last 16 days
New satellite data analysis showed the Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean, with 239 people on board.
But questions were last night raised about the sensitivity of airline bosses after they broke the tragic news with a group message to the mobile phones of victims’ families.
The text read: “We have to assume beyond all reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and none of those on board survived.”
Beijing-bound MH370 vanished from civilian radar less than an hour after it took off from Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on March 8.
There has since been no sighting of the Boeing 777 except for debris spotted on satellite images in remote waters west of Australia.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said last night that new analysis by the UK Air Accidents Investigation branch and tracking firm Inmarsat showed the plane’s location was “far from any possible landing sites”.
In a late news conference in Kuala Lumpur, he went on: “It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
He confirmed the families of the victims had been informed and added:
“For them, the past few weeks have been heart-breaking. I know this news must be harder still.”
Relatives, who had been praying for a miracle for 17 days, were left screaming and crying uncontrollably after the news broke.
Some needed to be held up by their loved ones to stop them collapsing as the stress proved too much.
In Beijing about 50 relatives were given the news at the Lido hotel close to the airport.
Afterwards, they filed out of a conference room, stricken with grief. One woman collapsed to her knees and cried: “My son, my son!”
Another relative screamed:
“It’s not possible!”
Medical teams arrived with several stretchers and at least one elderly man was carried out of the conference room. Minutes later a woman was taken out on another stretcher, her face ashen.
Nan Jinyan, whose brother-in-law Yan Ling was on the flight, said she was prepared for the worst when she heard the Prime Minister had announced a news conference.
Ms Nan said: “This is a blow to us, and it is beyond description.” Some also attacked Malaysia Airlines for delivering the news by text message.
One relative yelled: “We’ve been waiting for 17 days. You simply tell us this! Where is the proof? It’s wrong to announce the information like this!”
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