CHINA: Angry families of passengers missing on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 threaten to go on hunger strike

Record ID: 341474

  • Title: CHINA: Angry families of passengers missing on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 threaten to go on hunger strike
  • Date: 18th March 2014
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (MAR 18, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF FAMILY MEMBERS OF PASSENGERS ABOARD MISSING PLANE WALKING INTO ROOM MEETING BETWEEN FAMILIES AND REPRESENTATIVE FROM MALAYSIA AIRLINES IN PROGRESS FAMILIES STANDING (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY MEMBER OF PASSENGER ABOARD MISSING PLANE SAYING: "What we want is the truth, don't let them become victims of polit
  • Embargoed: 2nd April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: Crime,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA55BM2KWAY8QPMV26OG001B6FK
  • Story Text: Furious Chinese family members said on Tuesday (March 18) that they are going on hunger strike, demanding the Malaysian government tell them the truth about the fate of loved ones aboard missing flight MH370.
    Ten days after the Malaysian Airlines jetliner went missing, hundreds of family members continued to wait for information in a Beijing hotel.
    Around two thirds of the 239 passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing were Chinese.
    Families vented their pain and anger on Chinese representatives sent by the airline to meet with them on Tuesday, and demanded to see the Malaysian ambassador.
    "What we want is the truth, don't let them become victims of politics. No matter what political party you are, no matter how much power you have, if there isn't life, what's the point. Where is compassion?" asked one middle-aged woman.
    The families say they felt Malaysia was not being upfront in their statements.
    "You're always going back and forth, I think your government knows in their heart why we want you to answer us, because you always tricking us, telling us lies," said one man standing with holding the microphone.
    The Chinese representative from the airline said what information the families received was beyond his control.
    "I can accept the criticisms and mistakes that you have pointed out. But the problem is that some information and material, we really have no way to access. From my position, I really cannot access it. So I beg for your forgiveness," he said.
    As the representatives left, families shouted at them.
    After the meeting, families still in the room chanted slogans with fists in the air, shouting "Keep protesting, Respect life, Don't let them become victims of politics, tell us the truth!"
    Outside the room where media were gathered, a woman who had led the chanting held up a piece of paper with slogans written on it, and said the families were calling for a hunger strike.
    "Respect life, return our relatives. Can everyone read it? Can everyone read it?" she asked.
    "We're going on hunger strike. I'm representing," she said, when asked if the hunger strike has started.
    "The Malaysians are counting in days, but we Chinese are counting in seconds. The families are at the point of collapsing. There are so many families coming and going, some have already left. The young people can stand it, but the elderly have already broken down," she said.
    A man surnamed Wen whose son was aboard the plane repeated demands to see the ambassador.
    "We haven't yet decided whether we will go to the embassy, but we demand that the Malaysian ambassador come and represent the government, to come and answer the families' questions and give them some information. They're secretive, they never tell the truth," he said.
    China has begun to searching for the passengers and crew on board in Chinese territory which covers a northern corridor through which the aircraft could have flown, said state news agency Xinhua on Tuesday, quoting Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Huang Huikang.
    There is no evidence Chinese passengers were involved in a hijack or terror attack on the flight, state media quoted China's ambassador to Malaysia as saying on Tuesday.
    No trace of the flight has been found despite a search of unprecedented scale involving 26 countries, covering an area stretching from the shores of the Caspian Sea in the north to deep in the southern Indian Ocean.
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