MH370 coverage: Families protest against Malaysian government as long search looms for Malaysia jet

The Malaysian government has come under strong criticism from China, home to more than 150 of the passengers, where relatives of the missing have accused the government of "delays and deception".

On Sunday, dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers from Beijing met with Chinese embassy officials in Kuala Lumpur, piling more pressure on the Malaysian government over its handling of the case.

Image Credit- Reuters: The Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield is loaded with supplies at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth. 

"We arrived here this morning with sorrow and anxiety, because the special envoy from Malaysia, the so called high-level tech team, did not give us any effective information in meetings that took place in three consecutive days," said Jiang Hui, a relative of one of the victims to Reuters. 

Relatives seek the truth: 

30 relatives of Chinese passengers on a missing Malaysia Airlines flight arrived Sunday in Kuala Lumpur to demand answers about the plane's fate, with some calling for an apology from Malaysia's government for its callous approach. 

Image Credit: Reuters: A relative of a passenger aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 reacts during a briefing by officials of the Malaysian government at Lido Hotel in Beijing.

Twenty-nine family members arrived, according to an official of the Malaysian Chinese Association, a party in the ruling coalition which is providing support for them as per reports by CNA. 

At a hotel on the outskirts of the capital, the relatives wore white T-shirts reading "Pray for MH370" and displayed banners stating: "Tell us the truth. Give us our relatives back."

[#MASalert] Clarification on travel arrangements for #MH370 family members once confirmation received by authority - http://t.co/xGT1P7SsHM

— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) March 30, 2014

"We want the Malaysian government to apologise for giving out confusing information in the past week which caused the delay in the search and rescue effort," said relatives to Reuters. 

The search goes on: 

Meanwhile, the search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 could take years, a U.S. Naval Officer suggested on Sunday, as search and rescue officials raced to locate the plane's black box recorder days before its batteries are set to die.

Ten ships and as many aircraft are searching a massive area in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, trying to find some trace of the aircraft, which went missing more than three weeks ago and is presumed to have crashed.

Image Credit-Reuters:  Australian Navy Vice Admiral Ray Griggs (L-R), Commodore Peter Leavy and U.S. Navy Captain Mark Matthews hold a news conference in front of the Australian Defence Vessel Ocean Shield at HMAS Stirling naval base near Perth

The chief of the China Maritime Search and Rescue Center, He Jianzhong, told the Xinhua state news agency that the international effort had not found any objects linked to the plane on Sunday, and that Chinese vessels would expand their search area.

Numerous objects have been spotted in the two days since Australian authorities moved the search 1,100 km (685 miles) after new analysis of radar and satellite data concluded the Boeing 777 travelled faster and for a shorter distance after vanishing from civilian radar screens on March 8. None has been confirmed as coming from Flight MH370.

Debris leads to dead-end as AMSA tries locating the plane: 

U.S. Navy Captain Mark Matthews, who is in charge of the U.S. Towed Pinger Locator (TPL), told journalists at Stirling Naval Base near Perth that the lack of information about where the plane went down seriously hampers the ability to find it.

"Right now the search area is basically the size of the Indian Ocean, which would take an untenable amount of time to search," he said.
 

The maps put out by AMSA about possible objects in the Indian ocean that could be the missing airliner MH370

Australia, which is coordinating the search in the southern Indian Ocean, said it had established a new body to oversee the investigation and issued countries involved in the search a set of protocols to abide by should any wreckage be found.

Malaysia says the plane, which disappeared less than an hour into a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, was likely to have been diverted deliberately. Investigators have determined no apparent motive or other red flags among the 227 passengers or the 12 crew.

Here's what General Manager of AMSA's Emergency Response Division John Young spoke about search operations for the Malaysian flight: 

Meanwhile, with the search operation getting delayed, rumours about terror abgle gained credence. Twitter users reacted in different ways to the recent developments: 

DS @HishammuddinH2O "I promise to all that I will never give up" #MH370 pic.twitter.com/a78eDKMsgv

— H2O Comms (@H2OComms) March 29, 2014

Search for #MH370 has concluded today. No confirmed sightings. See more information here http://t.co/MVQZHCbpfr

— AMSA News (@AMSA_News) March 30, 2014

Secret services involvement in missing Malaysia flight MH370 investigation sparks speculation of terrorism http://t.co/Z9rjpVRDaT

— Vishal Desai (@desaivishal11) March 30, 2014

@NajibRazak: The search for MH370 continues. We will not rest until the plane is found. My thoughts are with the family members of #MH370.

— Letchu Maran (@letchumaran) March 30, 2014

@Oh_my_rah but Malaysia government took too long to negotiate with terrorist and when they crashed the plane they wrote it off as missing

— Jessica Wholmes (@Jessica_Wholmes) March 29, 2014

Malaysia blames Interpol:

Recently, Malaysian ministers suggested that international police agency Interpol's database for stolen and lost passports was too slow for use by Malaysian authorities, which caused delay in search operations. 

Interpol lashed out against Malaysia and stated, "The truth is that in 2014 prior to the tragic disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH 370, Malaysia’s Immigration Department did not conduct a single check of passengers’ passports against INTERPOL’s databases" on its website. 

The issue of stolen passports surfaced in the first few days after the disappearance of flight MH370 with 239 people on board, when Interpol confirmed that two passengers had boarded the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, using stolen passports.

Image Credit- Reuters: This device will be placed on the Australian Defence ship Ocean Shield on Sunday and used to help map the location of the sunken wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean

Also, criticising Malaysia's shoddy approach to minimise casualties, Interpol stated that its database takes just seconds to reveal whether a passport is listed, with recent tests providing results in 0.2 seconds.

The report further stated, "Interpol has no idea why Malaysia’s Home Minister chooses to attack INTERPOL instead of learning from this tragedy." 

Read the full text here:  FULL TEXT: Interpol rejects Malaysia's claims about slow systems; blames its Immigration Department

With agency inputs