Flight MH370 crashed in Indian Ocean, no survivors
AIMEE GULLIVER AND LINDSAY MURDOCH IN KUALA LUMPUR
The devastated relatives of passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 must assume the plane is "lost" and the flight crashed in the Indian Ocean, the Malaysian prime minister says.
The families were called to meetings this morning to be told the fate of flight MH370, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people, including two New Zealanders, aboard the flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing.
Those who could not attend received a text message or phone call from the airline confirming the terrible news.
New satellite analysis showed MH370 flew along the southern flight corridor identified by searchers and its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth, representatives of the British Air Investigation Branch had told Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
"This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites," Najib said today.
"It is, therefore, with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that according to this new data flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean."
Families have been booked on chartered flights to Perth.
Najib said in a first, "pings" sent out by the plane had been pieced together to shed more light on its flight path.
According to this data, provided to UK officials by London-based satellite company Inmarsat, the plane flew for more than seven hours after it had turned back from its scheduled flight path over the South China Sea.
Officials said it was likely the plane ran out fuel before crashing. It is not known whether the pilots were still in control during the long flight into the Indian Ocean.
In Beijing, where relatives of the missing had gathered at a hotel to hear the latest update, screams could be heard as the news was delivered. A steady stream of paramedics brought in stretchers.
Soon after, family members left the room wailing, with some collapsing on the floor and refusing to get up. One man threw himself on to an escalator and refused to move.
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