KUALA LUMPUR, March 18 ― The public is advised not to add to the stress of the next-of-kin of passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 that has been missing since March 8. 

Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) president Datuk Dr NKS Tharmaseelan said in this hour of need, communication and empathy were important and he felt that MAS and the Health Ministry need to be appreciated for sending teams of caregivers and volunteers to provide assistance, medical care and counselling to the family members of the passengers and crew.

“The next-of-kin have been traumatised by the episode and the anxiety and stress has been aggravated due to the uncertainty of the fate of MH370. They have become and seem fidgety, moody, irritable, short-tempered and generally unhappy,” he said in a statement to Bernama.

Dr Tharmaseelan added that continued stress may lead to serious health problems, such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, depression, anxiety disorder and other illnesses.

“MH370 is a mysterious distressing event the world has never witnessed or dealt with before and assigning blame rather than giving answers is human tendency which we should not be tempted to do. Lets focus on finding MH370 and not stress out everybody,” he said.

The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board, disappeared about an hour after leaving the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8. It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day.

The fate of the passengers is unknown as the multi-national search for the aircraft has drawn a blank so far.

It has been revealed that the plane veered off course after someone deliberately switched off the communication system on board and, according to the Inmarsat satellite, it had flown for several hours after that.

The satellite had continued to identify the plane once an hour through what is called an “electronic handshake” after it disappeared from radar screens at about 1.30am on March 8, and the last handshake was recorded at 8.11am. ― Bernama