KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 — The Malaysian passenger aboard the missing Indonesia AirAsia flight QZ8501 is believed to be a Sarawakian man.
While the official passenger list released by the airline to the media did not identify the individuals by their nationality, The Borneo Post Online reported tonight the family members of a man named Sii Chung Huei believe the 56-year-old to be the Malaysian in question.
The name that appeared on the passenger list however, is also spelled slightly differently, as Chung Hei Sii.
According to the Borneo daily, Sii works in a timber company in Surabaya and frequently travels between the Indonesian island and his home state of Sarawak and had booked his flight to Singapore on December 27.
Flight QZ8501 carrying 162 people on board left Surabaya for Singapore at about 5.35am Indonesian time and was supposed to touch down in Singapore at 8.20am. It was reported to have gone off the radar about 7.24am.
The Airbus A320-200 with the registration number PK-AXC is believed to have gone missing somewhere over the Java Sea between Tanjung Pandan on Belitung island and Pontianak, on Indonesia’s part of Borneo island.
A multi-nation search and rescue operation headed by Indonesia and involving Singapore and Malaysia has been launched but failed to find any signs of the missing plane so far.
The search was called off at nightfall and will resume at 6am tomorrow.
