22nd July, 2016
The hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 is to be suspended after the current search area is completed.
This was indicated in a letter sent on Friday in Kuala Lumpur to the relatives of the crashed victims by the governments of Malaysia, Australia and China.
The decision was made in Putrajaya during a meeting of the transport ministers from the three countries, which are conducting the search for the Beijing-bound aircraft that disappeared on March 8, 2014.
The ministers at the agreed that should the aircraft not be located in the current search area and in the absence of credible new evidence leading to the identification of a specific location of the aircraft, the search would not end.
They said rather, it would be suspended upon the completion of the 120,000 square kilometer search area.
Malaysian Transport Minister, Liow Lai, confirmed the decision to suspend the search.
He said so far, 90 percent of the current 120,000 square kilometres of the search area in the southern Indian Ocean have been completed, but still without a trace of the missing aircraft.
Liow said the hunt in the remaining area has been delayed due to bad weather.
Relatives of the 239 people aboard the missing aircraft appealed to the governments of China, Malaysia and Australia to continue looking until the plane is found.
Grace Nathan, whose mother was among the passengers, said that they must keep their promise to continue the search until the plane is found.
She said no matter how bad there must be a clue. We need to have closure”.