PUTRAJAYA, March 9 — An old lady sits alone in the lobby of the three-star Everly Hotel here, clearly distraught over what could have happened to her relatives on flight MH370, which dropped off the radar over 30 hours ago.

Cradling her head in one hand, she cast a pained look at the skyline as families mill about, anxiously waiting for information from the authorities on the missing plane.

Around her, other family members of the passengers and crew displayed visible strain over the long wait, with officials from Malaysia Airlines unable to provide new information beyond the promise that the national carrier has arranged their transport to Vietnam once the missing aircraft is confirmed discovered.

Subramaniam Gurusamy, 59, said he could hardly believe that the plane had gone missing after he was told the news yesterday morning.

“My son had always been flying for his work. The last thing he told me was that he was just going to be away for a week and would be home soon,” he said of his eldest born, Puspanathan, 34.

Subramaniam said his son, a marketing manager with state oil firm Petronas, was supposed to come home in a week’s time to belatedly celebrate his sister’s birthday, who turns 25 today.

“MAS has not told us anything yet... my parents were estate workers, my wife and I were estate workers, and we worked hard to put our children through school.

“My son became a successful person, but now he could be gone. You plant a seed and hope for a tree to grow, but now he might not be there anymore,” he said through sobs, citing an old Tamil proverb.

Another father, Ibrahim Abdul Razak, 75, could only hope that his son, Mohamad Sofuan, will emerge safe from this crisis.

“My son was on the plane heading to Beijing for his new posting. We were told the news that the plane went missing yesterday morning, and now we are just waiting.

“All I can ask is for everyone to pray that my son is safe,” he said of Mohamad Sofuan, who is an officer with the International Trade and Industry Ministry.

Families of the passengers of the missing Boeing 777-200 have been waiting for news for over a day now since the plane disappeared off the radar at around 1.30am yesterday morning.

A multi-national search and rescue effort has been launched since yesterday, centered on the Gulf of Thailand and the South China Sea.

Family members have been on standby for most of the morning as they wait for MAS to finalise their flight details. It is understood that the national carrier will fly two relatives of each of the 239 passengers and crew to Vietnam.

Subramaniam Gurusamy, a relative of a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane, reacts while speaking to the press in Sepang March 9, 2014. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng