MELBOURNE, March 26 — Several hundred family members of the passengers and crew of a lost Malaysian airliner are expected to travel to Perth in the coming weeks, West Australian (WA) State Premier Colin Barnett was reported as saying by the Australian Associated Press (AAP).
Perth’s RAAF air base Pearce has been the hub of the international search effort to find the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Boeing 777-200ER aircraft which is now believed to have gone down a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean.
Barnett said he expected several hundred family members of the flight’s 239 passengers and crew to arrive in Perth in the coming weeks. The majority of the passengers were from China.
The Chinese government and WA’s Department of Premier and Cabinet was involved in the process to receive the families, he said.
“It’s a little unclear yet exactly how this will pan out, but my understanding is that particularly the relatives of the Chinese passengers who have presumably lost their lives will want to come to Perth to be as close as possible to, I guess, the final place,” Barnett told Fairfax radio today.
“We, as a state government, will certainly do all that we can to make their visit as pleasant as it can be, given the circumstances. We’ll host them, look after them.
“The West Australian people will do all they can to make sure they are as comfortable, as welcome as possible in what is a very sad event.”
Barnett said a memorial service would be held if the relatives wanted it.
Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi said the relatives who came to pay their last respects would receive the utmost understanding and a warm welcome.
“We can all imagine the situation, their shock, worry and heartache,” AAP quoted Scaffidi as saying.
“We all hope and pray the plane and the black box will be found soon to enable the full story to be known.” — Bernama
