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Goodnight, MH370: World unites in grief after search party for Malaysian airline gives up

"I'm feeling disappointed, angry and a whirlpool of emotions."

Yvette Tan

on January 17, 2017

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Families of those onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are in grief, after the official search party gave up looking for the airliner.

The airplane disappeared three years ago with 239 people on board enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The search, led by the governments of Australia, Malaysia and China, has been ongoing for more than two years.

The three countries said in a statement that the decision to suspend the search was not "taken lightly nor without sadness."

They informed the families of the victims by email that the search is off.

Grace Subathirai Nathan from Malaysia, whose mother, Anne Daisy, had been on flight MH370, told Mashable that she had only received an email informing her of the news some 30 minutes before the same statement was released to the public.

"I'm feeling disappointed, angry and a whirlpool of emotions when I first found out that the search for MH370 was called off," she said tearfully.

"I just received an email 30 minutes before it was sent out to the press. They should have had a sit down meeting with us, or discussed it with us before. We wish to be a part of the decision because we have more at stake than anyone else."

She also added that she wanted the search to continue, adding that she would look toward "privately sponsoring the search."

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"We haven't made any official plans because we had hoped that there might be a chance that the authorities would search the new area after experts had recommended it", she said.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

KS Narendran of India, whose wife of 25 years, Chandrika, was onboard the missing airliner, added that he too had thought the governments would extend the search.

"Extending the search to another 25,000 sq km was eminently doable and desirable. In a sense, it seems like the governments have reneged on a commitment they made to the families and the public that they would pursue the quest for answers," he said, speaking to Mashable.

"I felt betrayed and deeply disappointed", he added. He received a phone call from the Family Support Centre in Malaysia minutes before the email was sent out.

Online, netizens were similarly grieved upon hearing the news.