It has been 10 years since the plane with 239 people on board disappeared in the Indian Ocean. (Data map)
Melbourne:
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Monday he would be “happy to restart” the search for flight MH370 if “compelling” evidence emerges, opening the door to a resumption of the search a decade after the plane disappeared.
“We would certainly be happy to reopen if there was compelling evidence to do so,” he said when asked about it during a visit to Melbourne.
His comments came as families of the victims were marking the 10th anniversary of the disappearance of the plane with 239 people on board in the Indian Ocean.
“I don’t think this is a technical issue. This is an issue that affects people’s lives and what needs to be done must be done,” he said.
On March 8, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, disappeared from radar screens en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane was never found and the operation was suspended in January 2017.
About 500 relatives and supporters gathered at a shopping mall near Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur on Sunday to celebrate Remembrance Day, with many visibly grieving.
Some relatives are from China, and nearly two-thirds of the passengers on the crashed plane are from China.
“The past 10 years have been a rollercoaster for me, a non-stop emotional rollercoaster,” Malaysian lawyer Grace Nathan, 36, told AFP. Her mother, Anne Daisy, 56, Anne Daisy) was also on the plane.
She addressed the crowd and called on the Malaysian government to conduct a new search.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke told reporters that “for Malaysia’s part, it is committed to finding the aircraft … cost is not an issue”.
He told relatives at the party that he would meet with officials from Texas-based Ocean Unlimited, which had previously conducted a failed search, to discuss a new operation.
“We are now waiting for them to provide a suitable date and I hope to see them soon,” he said.
Previous Australian-led searches in the Indian Ocean, which covered 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles), found almost no trace of the plane and only picked up some debris.
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