PUTRAJAYA, March 25 — Malaysia Airlines (MAS) held a briefing session with family members of the crew of the ill-fated MAS Flight MH370 at the Marriot Hotel here today.
The elder sister of one of the crew members, Wan Swaid Wan Ismail, said the briefing was given by MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya for almost an hour.
Wishing to be identified only as Kak Wan, she said the briefing was no different from that shown on television.
Kak Wan, who was wearing a black baju kurung and an orange scarf said Wan Swaid, who was married, was the youngest of eight siblings.
After 17 days of anxious waiting, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak last night announced that Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
MH370 which carried 227 passengers and 12 crew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from the radar screen about an hour after it left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8.
The plane was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6.30am the same day.
Asked to comment on the reaction of family members and herself upon hearing the sad announcement by the prime minister last night, Kak Wan said there was nothing to be said and she hoped reporters would understand how she felt.
“What is there to say? It is non-stop crying. Our parents are no longer alive. We brought up Wan Swaid,” she said, adding that she accepted the fate that had befallen her younger brother.
Attempts by the media to get near the briefing room since morning proved fruitless as it was heavily guarded by MAS security staff.
Meanwhile, a boy, believed to be in primary school, turned up unannounced outside the briefing room where the media was gathered and said: “Please respect our privacy”.
The boy, believed to be a family member of one of the MH370 crew, was earlier spotted in the vicinity, telling another child not to answer any question from the media.
Several family members also refused to be interviewed by the media. This included a pregnant woman who looked sad and only shook her head when approached. — Bernama
