MH370 Has Been Missing For A Decade, PM Says Search Will Resume If There’s Compelling New Evidence

Families of the victims recently held the 10th remembrance event at Nu Empire Subang, a few days before the anniversary of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

Subscribe to our FREE Newsletter, or Telegram and WhatsApp channels for the latest stories and updates.

This month marks a decade since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared from radar, sparking an extensive search and a mystery that still grips the world.

Here’s a brief recap of what happened:

On 8 March 2014, all 239 passengers, including the crew of MH370, were en route from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to Beijing, China, before it dropped out of radar when it flew over the South China Sea.

The last communication from MH370 was when pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah said goodbye to Malaysian air traffic control and moved into Vietnamese airspace.

The plane then turned around and flew over the north of Malaysia and then south into the Indian Ocean.

The picture on the left was taken during the 9th remembrance event of MH370. Image: TRP File

Despite extensive searches, no one knows for sure what happened to the flight. All 239 people on the plane were presumed dead.

However, bits and pieces of the plane wreckage were found by members of the public over the years.

Some plane debris such as a 2-metre flaperon washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean. The little evidence still fails to paint a full picture of the events of that fateful day.

Families of victims held a remembrance event

The families of the victims, MH370 Families on Facebook, recently organised the 10^th annual remembrance event at Nu Empire Subang.

The event displayed some of the wreckage found and there were performances in homage to the missing victims.

The remembrance event ended with the lighting of 239 candles to remember all the loved ones who were lost ten years ago.

At Nu Empire Subang for the 10th anniversary of #MH370. The debris of the plane that has been discovered over the years is being displayed. pic.twitter.com/wkeYaNiYwo
— Hadi Azmi (@amerhadiazmi) March 3, 2024

Calls to renew search if there’s new evidence

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia is willing to reopen an investigation into the disappearance of MH370 if there’s new compelling evidence.

We have taken the position that if there is a compelling case, evidence that it needs to be re-opened, we’re certainly happy to reopen. Whatever needs to be done must be done.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said during a press conference in Melbourne on the sidelines of an Asean-Australia summit.

Yesterday (3 March), Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the government is ready to talk with interested parties who are interested in resuming the search for the missing plane.

Loke said his ministry has been instructed to invite deepsea exploration firm Ocean Infinity for a meeting over their latest “no cure, no fee” proposal to find MH370.

Ocean Infinity has expressed its interest in resuming the search and has narrowed “the search area down to one in which success becomes potentially achievable.”

In January 2017, Malaysia, along with Australia and China, called off a fruitless two-year underwater hunt for the missing plane.

The US$130 million search paid by Australia and Malaysia covered 120,000 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean.

In 2018, Ocean Infinity took over the search on a no-find, no-fee basis for three months and covered about 112,000 sq km in the southern Indian Ocean. The search yielded no discovery either.

Share your thoughts on TRP’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.