Video: Watch eerie moment family of missing Malaysia Airlines passenger successfully ring his phone - but nobody answers
Video: Watch eerie moment family of missing Malaysia Airlines passenger successfully ring his phone - but nobody answers
The family of a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight successfully rang his mobile phone - but nobody answered.This video shows the moment relatives of a Chinese man among the 239 people feared dead after the passenger jet mysteriously disappeared rang his phone live on state television.
The call connected, but then rang out.
Chinese media reports that a number of families have been able to ring mobile phones of their missing loved ones but no one answers.
The development raises even more questions about what has happened to flight MH370.
The
flight is presumed to have crashed off the Vietnamese coast on
Saturday, after losing contact with air traffic controllers off the
eastern Malaysia coast.
An Italian and an Austrian were feared to be among the 239 victims presumed dead after the Boeing 777 crashed into the South China Sea.
The revelations raise the fear that terrorism may have played a part in the sudden disappearance of the air liner that was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
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A 12-mile oil slick was spotted during an aerial search which was called off before nightfall, leaving naval ships and fishing vessels to look for survivors.
The plane was last detected on radar at 5.30pm UK time on Friday around 100 miles north of the Malaysian coast.
An airline tracking website suggested it plunged 650ft and changed direction before it vanished.
Even before news of stolen passports emerged, experts had raised the spectre of a terrorist bomb.
Pilot David Learmount, who is operations and safety editor of Flight Global magazine, said: “Something happened and the pilots did not tell anyone. Why? It’s a good question.
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Malaysia Airline crash
View gallery“It’s extraordinary the pilots failed to call because they had plenty of time to. Unless there was a bomb on board but there has been no evidence of that.”
Aviation expert Chris Yates told Sky News: “We simply don’t know the circumstances behind what caused that crash at the moment.
“There will be two areas for the investigation: the maintenance of the aircraft and also possible terrorism.”
Flight MH370 was carrying 227 passengers, including two children, and 12 crew members.
Among them were 152 Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 people from Indonesia and six from Australia.
There were no reports of bad weather and no sign why the Rolls-Royce Trent engine-powered plane would have vanished from radar screens about an hour after it took off.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said: “The search and rescue operations will continue as long as necessary.”
Fifteen Malaysian air force aircraft, six navy ships and three coast guard vessels were involved in the rescue effort. China and the Philippines have sent ships to a region near the South China Sea to help.
The United States, the Philippines and Singapore also dispatched military planes to help in the search. China also put other ships and aircraft on standby.
“We are doing everything in our power to locate the plane,” Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.
“Our hope is that the people understand we are being as transparent as we can, we are giving information as quickly as we can, but we want to make sure information has been verified.”
Meanwhile, distraught relatives were trying to come to terms with the tragedy.
The wife of Paul Weeks told how the 39-year-old was on his way to do his first shift as part of a fly in-fly out job in Mongolia.
It was meant to be the start of a dream job for the mechanical engineer.
Last night his wife Danica said she was trying to come to grips with the tragic news.
The couple have a three-year-old son named Lincoln and a 10-month-old called Jack.
Mr Weeks is originally from New Zealand and moved to Australia in 2011 to work in the mining industry after six years in the army.
Reuters
“My wife is crying,” he said. “Everyone is sad. My house has become a place of mourning. This is Allah’s will. We have to accept it.”
Chinese relatives waiting in Beijing Airport are furious at the lack of information and told reporters they have been treated “worse than dogs” by Malaysia Airline.
Family members were taken to a hotel, put in a room and told to wait for information from the airline, but none came.
About 20 people stormed out of the room at one point, enraged they had been given no information.
“There’s no one from the company here, we can’t find a single person. They’ve just shut us in this room and told us to wait,” said one middle-aged man, who declined to give his name.
“We want someone to show their face. They haven’t even given us the passenger list,” he said.
Another relative, trying to evade a throng of reporters, muttered: “They’re treating us worse than dogs.”
Amid chaotic scenes, an unidentified Malaysia Airlines official spoke to reporters for just a few minutes without taking questions before leaving.
“We are working with authorities who have activated the search and rescue teams,” the official said. “Our thoughts and prayers are deeply with the affected passengers and their family members.”
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