SEPANG, March 20 — The police have tightened security at the press conference room at the Sama-Sama Hotel where authorities brief journalists on developments in the search for a missing Malaysian airliner following a gatecrash incident yesterday.

Sepang police chief Supt Mohd Yusoff Awang said 20 policemen had been deployed in the vicinity of the press conference room where Malaysia Airports security personnel have also been stationed. 

 “Only journalists with the special pass issued by the Information Department are allowed to enter the press conference room. Two policemen and two Malaysia Airports security personnel are stationed at the entrance to the room to inspect the passes,” he told Bernama.

The enhanced security comes after several people believed to be the relatives of Chinese nationals on the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) plane gatecrashed the press conference room yesterday as the authorities were briefing the journalists.

A barrier had been placed to prevent direct access to the press conference room.

Several relatives of Chinese nationals, who comprised the majority of the 227 passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370, have been flown to Malaysia and are being accommodated at hotels in Putrajaya and Cyberjaya.

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

A multinational search was mounted for the airline which, according to satellite data, had veered off course over the South China Sea and headed for the Indian Ocean.

The area of the search was extended to cover a large tract west of Malaysia, including the Indian Ocean, when it was learned that the plane had flown for seven hours after that.

The search then focused on two corridors, namely the northern corridor which stretches from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand, and the southern corridor which stretches from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean. — Bernama