KATHMANDU, Nepal–Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak announced new analysis of satellite data in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 hints that the missing aircraft’s ended in the Southern Indian Ocean.
“Based on new analysis….MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth,” Razak said Monday. “It is therefore, with deep sadness and regret, that I must inform you that according to this new data that flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.”
Shortly before the announcement Malaysia Airlines sent the following text to family members of passengers:
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that… MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister… the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.”
Relatives of passengers who had earlier been called to a hotel near the airport to hear the announcement are devastated after hearing the news.
Earlier on Monday, Australian and Chinese search planes spotted grey and orange like objects in the southern Indian Ocean that were identified as possible debris from the missing jet.
MH370 disappeared without any clue on March 8 over the South China Sea en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crews on board.
In the meantime, Australia officials say the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has been suspended due to bad weather, according to BBC.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said Tuesday high winds and rain meant planes could not fly safely.
A relative (C) of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries after hearing the news that the plane plunged into Indian Ocean at a hotel in Beijing on March 24, 2014. AFP PHOTO
