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Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370: Shocking video shows passengers' relatives dragged away from media

One of the women screamed 'I want you to help me find my son!' before being led away by officials

Adam Withnall
Wednesday 19 March 2014 15:42 GMT
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'I want you to help me to find my son!' one of the women cried
'I want you to help me to find my son!' one of the women cried (Reuters)

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Twelve days after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, frustrations boiled over into chaos today as two relatives of missing passengers were bundled away by officials for attempting to stage a protest.

Ahead of a news conference called to discuss the latest developments in the search for the Boeing 777, women believed to be relatives of Chinese passengers spoke to reporters, cried out their demands for information and held up a banner emblazoned with the word "truth".

"I want you to help me to find my son!" one of the women cried, before security officials closed in on them.

In scenes broadcast around the world that will only heighten the growing sense that the search effort lacks proper coordination and control from the Malaysian authorities, the relatives were physically forced from the conference to be held in a private room.

As they were taken away and amid a melee of pushing and shoving, one of the women reportedly said: "We don't know how long we'll be waiting.

"It's been 12 days, my loved one ... I don't know where my loved one is ... it's been 12 days, where is my son? Why are you not giving me any answers?"

According to Sky News reports the other woman, wearing a face mask, said: "They have followed us, taken care of us very well.

"However, we don't need to be looked after, we need to know the truth. We need to know where the plane is, we don't need someone to look after us everyday."

When relative calm had been restored, officials revealed two key new pieces of information - that they believe the pilot of Flight MH370 had deleted data from his personal flight simulator, and that it is currently believed more likely the plane was flown towards the southern Indian Ocean.

Malaysia’s Transport Minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said that while Malaysia was still coordinating the search for the missing plane, other countries were increasingly taking responsibility in their own territory, and in other sectors. He said that Australia and Indonesia were leading the search of the southern Indian Ocean.

Investigators have identified two giant arcs of territory spanning the possible positions of the plane when it issued the last “ping” from its satellite communication system. The two arcs stretch northwards to Kazakhstan and deep into the southern Indian Ocean.

Mr Hussein said both areas of considered equally important but that the search of the southern corridor was more of a challenge because there were fewer countries over which the plane might have flown. However, an unidentified source said to be close to the inquiry told the Reuters news agency that it was most likely the missing plane headed south.

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