Ten years later, the families of the missing Chinese passengers aboard flight MH370 are still searching for answers.
On Friday, a few dozen relatives of the passengers met with Chinese Foreign Ministry officials in Beijing, as part of their long quest for answers. They also went to the Malaysian embassy to present their demands. Even after such a long time, the wound remains raw for many families.
This Friday marks the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370. The Boeing 777 left Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with 239 people on board on March 8, 2014, but took a sharp turn south and disappeared from radar. It never reached Beijing.
The plane’s disappearance attracted worldwide attention and gave rise to countless conspiracy theories. Only debris from the plane was found. Among the passengers on the plane, 154 were Chinese. Their families are still waiting for answers.
“Where did the plane go? Where is the person?” said Li Shuce, who lost his son on the flight. “If he is alive, I want to see him; If he’s dead, I want to see his body.”
Li is surrounded by police officers managing the crowds outside the building where the families are meeting government officials.
Families want answers
The families later went to the Malaysian embassy in Beijing, where they chanted in front of the building: “Malaysia, give me back my loved one! Without seeing them we won’t give up“.
Another woman, who gave only her last name, Gao, because she feared harassment by police, said she believed her husband’s death last year was precipitated by the fact that she did not know the circumstances of their son’s death: He was returning from vacation in Malaysia with his wife and three-year-old daughter when the flight disappeared.
Ms. Gao and her husband belonged to a generation that could only have one child due to China’s one-child policy, which has since been relaxed.
“My only request is to know what happened to him. We need it,” said Ms. Gao, a Beijing resident. “I have no further requests.”
She said she was not concerned about possible compensation from the airline, for which a Chinese court is holding hearings.
Families are still hoping for answers. Last week, Malaysian authorities said they would consider restarting efforts to find the plane, after a U.S. company that led the previous search proposed a new attempt.
Ms. Gao said she forced herself to continue living for her family. “How could I give up? If I don’t stand up, how could I face them ? “When you encounter this type of situation, you have to act for yourself, you have to be strong.” She added.
Malaysian authorities have said they want to reopen the investigation; the disappearance of flight MH370 remains one of the biggest mysteries in civil aviation.
