After ten days of frustration, swinging between hope and despair, some relatives of the Chinese passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have threatened a hunger strike.
Many of the Chinese relatives are convinced that the Malaysian authorities are withholding vital information from them. Roughly two-thirds of the passengers who boarded the plane, a total of 153, were Chinese.
After days of attacking Malaysian officials with water bottles and shouting abuse at the Malaysian ambassador, some have reached breaking point.
“Progress is too slow, the authorities are hiding information,” said Mr Chen, the 63-year-old father of Chen Changjun, one of the passengers.
“Several relatives want to have a hunger strike to protest,” he said.
Outside the conference room where the relatives have been waiting, a woman clutched a placard before the Chinese media on Tuesday. “Respect life. Give us back our families,” it said.
The woman, who declined to give her name, said the idea of a hunger strike, which had first been mooted on Sunday, was now gathering momentum.
“Since they haven’t given us the truth about those people’s lives, all of us are protesting. All the relatives are facing mental breakdowns,” she told the AFP newswire.
However Mr Chen said that a large number of relatives believe the idea is too extreme. “Such a radical action will not change anything,” he said.
Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, the chief executive of Malaysia Airlines, said the company was concerned for the well-being of the relatives. “We are doing all we can to ensure that the family members have sufficient assistance and information. This is something we will look into and if anything like this happens, we will obviously take immediate action,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines has dispatched a counsellor for each of the relatives to help them through the trauma. But China has severely criticised the Malaysian response to the missing plane. In a series of scathing editorials in the state media, the Chinese have accused the Malaysians of incompetence. (Telegraph)
