MH370 families urge residents of African coast to join debris search

Record ID: 75870

  • Title: MH370 families urge residents of African coast to join debris search
  • Date: 5th December 2016
  • Summary: ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR (DECEMBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) ****WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS FAMILY MEMBER OF THREE MH370 PASSENGERS, GHYSLAIN WATTRELOS, GIVING PRESENTATION VARIOUS OF PRESENTATION JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTIONS (SOUNDBITE) (French) FAMILY MEMBER OF THREE MH370 PASSENGERS, GHYSLAIN WATTRELOS, SAYING: "They know very well that the plane is on the other side, so that's why I say they lied to us from the beginning." NEWS CONFERENCE T-SHIRT BEARING 'MH370' WATTRELOS GIVING PRESENTATION RELATIVE OF MH370 PASSENGER SPEAKING TO JOURNALIST (SOUNDBITE) (English) SPOKESPERSON FOR VOICE 370, GRACE SUBATHIRAI NATHAN, SAYING: "We will try to split into three groups so that we can cover more areas in short time. So we have one person going to Tamata speak to NGOs, and he will speak to many people while he is there, have a press conference there and one group will go to Riake because many pieces have been found in Riake in Ill Saint Marie. And a new place is Nosy Be. No one has been to search for debris there before so one group will go to Nosy Be we will try to raise awareness there amongst the local people and we will also look for debris ourselves."
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2016 15:24
  • Keywords: Antananarivo Madagascar MH370 Malysia Airlines Ghyslain Wattrelos Grace Subathirai Nathan
  • Location: ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR
  • City: ANTANANARIVO, MADAGASCAR
  • Country: Madagascar
  • Reuters ID: LVA0015BLYERR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Family members who lost loved ones in the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 appealed on Monday (December 5) to people living along the east African coastline to search for possible plane debris and hand in anything they find to the authorities.
    Ghislain Wattrelos, who lost his wife and two teenage children on the plane, said more debris could help determine what happened to relatives more than 1,000 days after the flight disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
    The families have accused Malaysian-led investigators of focusing too much on the deep-sea search for wreckage off the coast of Australia, and failing to aid the search for debris.
    The families' visit to Madagascar, where almost half of the more than 30 pieces thought to be from the plane have so far been found, prompted the Malaysian investigators to follow them to the Indian Ocean island to collect the latest items.
    The Transport Ministry handed over six pieces on Monday that included a seat back with coat hook and wing and tail pieces.
    Grace Subathirai Nathan, a Malaysian lawyer who lost her mother on MH370, said the bereaved relatives - seven of whom are in Madagascar from China, Malaysia and France - would be "delighted" if people on Africa's east coast joined the search.
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