UPDATE: FAMILIES OF MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE CRASH VICTIMS CALL FOR NEW SEARCH
As a Beijing court started hearing their latest request for compensation, relatives of dozens of Chinese passengers who perished when a Malaysia Airlines jet vanished nearly ten years ago demanded on Monday a new inquiry.
In route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the MH370 aircraft carrying 239 passengers, the majority of whom were from China, disappeared on March 8, 2014.
Over forty families have sued Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls Royce, and Allianz Insurance, among other companies, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
Restitution and discovering the cause of the flight’s disappearance are the main goals of the families’ legal demands, according to Zhang Qihuai, an attorney cited by CCTV.
In a search area spanning 120,000 square kilometres (46,000 square miles) in the Indian Ocean, very little evidence of the aircraft was discovered, and only a few bits of wreckage were discovered.
The largest operation in aviation history, led by Australia, was put on hold in January 2017.
The families requested a new search for the missing aircraft on a “no find, no fee” premise in an open letter they released on Monday and addressed to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
They asked for āeffective communicationā with the Malaysian government to kick off a new hunt.
Outside the court, many relatives were on the verge of tears as they recounted stories of their loved ones, some holding pieces of paper saying ārestart the searchā and āopen, fair, impartialā.
Bao Lanfang lost her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the disaster, and her husband died last year.
āPersonally, I do not care about the monetary compensation,ā the 71-year-old told the media.