Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at 22:00 Mayalsian time made the following statement to the press and public:
“This evening I was briefed by representatives from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). They informed me that Inmarsat, the UK company that provided the satellite data which indicated the northern and southern corridors, has been performing further calculations on the data. Using a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort, they have been able to shed more light on MH370’s flight path.
Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth.
This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
We will be holding a press conference tomorrow with further details. In the meantime, we wanted to inform you of this new development at the earliest opportunity. We share this information out of a commitment to openness and respect for the families, two principles which have guided this investigation.
Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development. For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still. I urge the media to respect their privacy, and to allow them the space they need at this difficult time.”
Shortly before the announcement by the Prime Minister, families were notified by Malaysia Airlines with the following message:
“Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s prime minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
Today has been a hard day for the families as the search intensifies over the Southern Indian Ocean – with ten planes involved in the search today for any sign of MH370. Planes have reported sightings of possible debris by Chinese aircraft – seeing “white, square floating objects” and Australian aircraft spotting objects – “one circular and grey and the other rectangular and orange”- too.
The search effort is being conducted by Australia, Japan, New Zealand, United States of America and China military aircraft, so far covering over 200,000 square miles
Today’s findings are based on research completed by Inmarsat rather than the finding of the possible debris. The data was verified by other scientists before being handed over to Malaysian authorities on Sunday morning.
For now, apart from the continuing efforts to confirm and find the debris of the plane, effort needs to be made to comfort the families of the 239 passengers and crew who will now have to go through more pain and anguish.
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