MALAYSIA: Malaysian investigators hold briefing on MH370 search for relatives of Chinese passengers but refuse to comment on the details.

Record ID: 687614

  • Title: MALAYSIA: Malaysian investigators hold briefing on MH370 search for relatives of Chinese passengers but refuse to comment on the details.
  • Date: 2nd April 2014
  • Summary: BANGI, MALAYSIA (APRIL 2, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RELATIVES OF CHINESE MH370 PASSENGERS LEAVING BRIEFING BY INVESTIGATORS ON MH370 SEARCH VARIOUS OF MALAYSIAN DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION (DCA) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DATUK AZHARUDDIN ABDUL RAHMAN, PREPARING TO ADDRESS JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION (DCA) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DATUK AZHARUDDIN ABDUL RAHMAN, SAYING: "We had a meeting with the next of kin just now, the next of kin from China. There are numbers, there are 29 of them from 18 families. It is a close-door meeting. We had a very good meeting with them. We answered all their questions. And I cannot give you the specifics of the meeting because it is a close-door meeting." RAHMAN BEING FILMED BY CAMERA OPERATOR (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION (DCA) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DATUK AZHARUDDIN ABDUL RAHMAN, SAYING: JOURNALIST: "Did you tell them about changing the parameters of the search? RAHMAN: "No, I don't want to give you the details of the meeting, but we have answered whatever questions that they posed to our team today." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL AVIATION (DCA) DIRECTOR-GENERAL, DATUK AZHARUDDIN ABDUL RAHMAN, SAYING: JOURNALIST: "Are you changing the investigation, is the investigation changed? Is there anything new in the investigation that you were able to share with the families?" RAHMAN: "No, no. That is, that is technical question and I'm not going to answer that." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS RAHMAN DEPARTING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF CHINESE FAMILIES OF MH370 PASSENGERS IN LOBBY OF HOTEL
  • Embargoed: 17th April 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: Crime,Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVAE3UQ1FS5DWY759VJGHQOF2HSZ
  • Story Text: The head of Malaysia's department of civil aviation said Malaysian officials had a "very good meeting" on Wednesday (April 2) with relatives of the Chinese passengers who were aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, but he refused to provide any details, saying it was a "closed-door meeting."
    "We had a meeting with the next of kin just now, the next of kin from China. There are numbers, there are 29 of them from 18 families. It is a close-door meeting," said Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the director-general of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation.
    "We had a very good meeting with them. We answered all their questions. And I cannot give you the specifics of the meeting because it is a close-door meeting."
    The meeting took place at the hotel near Kuala Lumpur where the families are staying. Rahman said they would provide a statement on the meeting later on Wednesday Flight MH370 with 239 people on board disappeared March 8 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing. Most of the passengers aboard the plane were Chinese. Their family members have become increasingly frustrated with the way the search has been handled and have accused the Malaysian officials of keeping information from them.
    Rahman along with the Malaysian Prime Minister's special envoy to China, the Royal Malaysian Air Force chief, China's ambassador and investigators from China's aviation authority met with the family members today. Rahman wouldn't go into specifics about what was discussed, declining to answer when a journalist asked if they told the families that the parameters of the search had been changed.
    "No, I don't want to give you the details of the meeting, but we have answered whatever questions that they posed to our team today," said Rahman.
    He also declined to answer any questions about the search itself or whether they were able to share anything new about the investigation with the families.
    "No, no. That is, that is technical question and I'm not going to answer that," he said.
    The search for the plane continued on Wednesday in the Indian Ocean west of Australia.
    Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is expected to arrive in Perth late Wednesday to inspect the search and rescue operations, which are being conducted out of RAAF Base Pearce north of the city.
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