Relatives of missing plane passengers clash with police in Beijing

Dozens of angry relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner clashed with police outside the Malaysian embassy. Sarah Toms reports.

Published

10 months ago

Categories

World

Topics

Asia, World

Places

China, Malaysia, Beijing

Companies

Malaysia Airlines

Transcript

The grief, anger and anguish of relatives of passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner. They left their Beijing hotel to protest at the Malaysian embassy, demanding the truth from the government and an explanation from the airline. Dozens of protesters, clashed with police, who had formed a human chain round the embassy gate. Some threw water bottles at officers and many were pushed back. One woman was carried away on a stretcher. The banners they held told their heart wrenching stories. This yellow sign says "I've bought the diamond ring. I want to put it on your finger". The Beijing bound jet vanished on March 8th about an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. The 239 people on the plane are now believed to have died. Most of them were Chinese. . (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY MEMBER OF PASSENGER ABOARD MISSING MALAYSIA AIRLINES PLANE TRYING TO PASS LINE OF POLICE OFFICERS, SCUFFLING WITH POLICE OFFICERS, SAYING (Mandarin): "What are you doing? I want to go and find those Malaysians. Who am I supposed to wait for? Why have I been waiting an hour already? I've been waiting for 18 days. What's the point?" These emotions underscore a spreading backlash in China against Malaysia and its government for what they see as mishandling of flight MH370. Late on Monday, the Malaysian Prime Minister told them the plane had crashed in the Indian Ocean. In response, they denounced the government and its national carrier as "executioners". (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) UNIDENTIFIED FAMILY MEMBER OF PERSON/PEOPLE ON BOARD MISSING PLANE SAYING: "Can their government understand? Can they understand how we feel? If they could understand our feelings then it wouldn't have come to this. Does the Malaysian government understand us? They dare to criticise us. But look at what they've done." Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he wants to help these families in Australia, the focal point of the search for possible debris. . (SOUNDBITE) (English) AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER TONY ABBOTT SAYING: "It's highly likely Madam Speaker that in coming days and weeks many of the relatives of passengers on ill-fated flight 370 will wish to come to Australia. I want them all to know that should they come here they will be in the arms of a decent country. I should also let the House know that the government has decided to waive visa fees for any relatives wishing to come to Australia." But without any explanations about why flight MH370 deviated so far off course, these relatives are clinging to the hope that their loved ones are still alive.