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Murderers! Angry kin charge at M'sian officials
Published:  Mar 22, 2014 5:00 PM
Updated: 11:03 AM

Seething with anger, relatives of the Chinese nationals onboard the missing MH370 charged at Malaysian officials and accused them of murder during a briefing in Beijing.

According to an AFP report, the officials were at the Lido Hotel to brief the relatives on the status of the search-and-rescue mission, which entered its third week today.

The police had to step in to prevent the relatives from attacking the delegation, who were forced to leave the room.

"The Malaysian government is deceiving us. They don't dare to face us. The Malaysian government are the biggest murderers," a family member shouted at the briefing.

Malaysia Airlines officials have been holding daily briefings for the families but today's reaction was among the most hostile.

"Government of Malaysia, tell us the truth! Give us back our loved ones!" another family member reportedly shouted.

"We can't bear it any longer... They're offering us compensation, but we've lost our entire family.  

"They can't just tell us to come or go as they please. We're going to wait here. If they don't come, we're not leaving," another woman was quoted as saying.

'China briefing less productive'
 
Later today, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein acknowledged the rowdy briefing.
 
"The briefing for families in KL yesterday went well. The briefing in Beijing, however, was less productive. Despite the best intentions, I understand there were tense scenes.

"I have received a report from the Malaysian high-level team, as well as a copy of the declaration from the Chinese families. I have asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with the authorities in China, to investigate what happened," he said.

Hishammuddin added that the Malaysian representatives will work with Chinese authorities to create a more conducive environment for future briefings.

"I have instructed my technical team to do a review of both briefings so that we can improve them.

"We appeal to all parties to be understanding during this extraordinary and difficult time. My pledge to all the families, wherever they are, is the same: we will do everything in our power to keep you informed," he said.

A total of 153 of the 239 passengers and crew of Flight MH370 on the Kuala Lumpur-Beijing route were Chinese nationals.

The aircraft vanished from civilian radar over the Gulf of Thailand less than hour after it took off from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

A total of 26 countries are searching in the northern corridor and southern corridor which are estimated to be the plane's last known location but there is no sight of the aircraft to date.

The northern corridor ranges from the northern Thai border until the borders of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan and the southern corridor ranges from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.


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