MH370 In a symbol befitting a nation in mourning, the Malaysian mainstream newspapers ran black and white front pages with the news of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370.

After 17 days of waiting in agony, Najib Abdul Razak yesterday night announced that the flight path of the missing MAS jetliner with 239 aboard ended in the southern Indian Ocean.

The media paid tribute to the passengers and crew and offered their condolences to the next-of-kin and families.

The Star published the names of the passengers and crew in the number 370 format on the front page and depicted the abbreviation R.I.P (rest in peace) in bold font at the bottom of the page.

The New Straits Times splashed the picture of a Boeing 777-200ER with a bold caption ‘Goodnight, MH370' while its Malay sister daily, Berita Harian , ran the heading ‘MH370 crashes in Indian Ocean’ and a picture of a family member in tears at the top of the page.

The tragedy also made the front page of another Malay daily, Utusan Malaysia, which carried excerpts of the prime minister’s announcement on the ill-fated plane along with his picture and that of two aggrieved family members, one from Malaysia and another from China.     

It also depicted MH370's flight path.

Najib last night said the jetliner ended in the Southern Indian Ocean based on new analysis by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) and satellite company Inmarsat.

The Beijing-bound flight went missing on March 8.

The announcement concluded 17 days of search and rescue, which was considered the largest operation in the aviation history that involved 26 countries deploying their resources in search for the aircraft.

Speculation shrouded on the mystery of the missing MH370 as until now no concrete answer could explain its disappearance until the aircraft black box is found.

- Bernama