Daily Updates with RF Rizwan Farrukh
Distressed relatives of loved ones breakdown as the Malaysian airplane that was supposed to land in Beijing at 6:30am Saturday morning has gone missing. The Boeing 777-200ER lost contact with the flight authorities two hours after it took off on Malaysia Airlines flight MH730 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. In total, there were 239 people boarding on the plane; including 227 passengers and 12 crew members. Travellers include 152 Chinese, 12 Indonesians, 38 Malaysians three Americans and six Australians. Two infants are also thought to be on board.
The final contact with the crew was at 6:20 GMT on Friday when the plane flew over the South China Sea. Since then, there has been no communication and a massive rescue operation is also underway to find the aircraft. There has been no hearing since and distressed family members are staying strong and comforting one another as they eagerly wait for the news. Family members anxiously wait at Beijing International Airport and Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
The state media at Vietnamese has reported the plane had crashed off South Vietnam; however, Malaysia’s transport minister denied any crash as no such scene had been identified. The last contact with air traffic controllers was 120 nautical miles off the east coast of Malaysian town of Kota Bharu. The investigation continues and search teams haven’t been able to locate any wreckage so far.
As family members eagerly wait, they scan information on boards for the latest on the missing aircraft. Men and women are all very worried for their loves ones who are travelling in the plane. It has been reported china has sent ships to look for the wreckage, but so far nothing has been heard. Ahmad Jauhari Yahya – Malaysia’s Airline Chief Executive told the media, the airline was working with authorities to locate the aircraft.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with all passengers, crew and their family members” he also added.
The last terminal Malaysia Airlines incident was in 1995 when 34 were killed; when a plane crashed in the Malaysian city of Tawau.
Amongst the 239 passengers, there are also believed to be four people with suspect identities. Recent reports show the plane could have crashed in to the sea.
Experts say the tragedy is consistent with a possible explosion.
