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'Nothing to hide? Then tell us who's responsible'
Published:  May 3, 2014 1:29 PM
Updated: 10:58 AM

Latest developments:

  • MAS confirms 38 M'sians on board MH370, not 34

 

  • MAS to fork out RM160k for each Chinese passenger's family
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  • MAS: Only 200kgs Lithium-ion batteries, rest radio accessories
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  • China sends in vessel with underwater searching capacities
  • Follow us as we bring the latest updates and coverage for the search of Flight MH370:

    Probe into flight simulator on-going

    6.45pm : Despite assistance from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the work of recovering MH370 captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s flight simulator remains difficult and has yet to be completed, says inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.

     

    “We have only retrieved some of the data from the simulator. I cannot reveal further as it is still under investigation,” he was quoted as saying on The Star ’s online portal today.

    MAS in contact with families on compensation

    4.40pm: MAS says its representatives are now in contact with the family of MH370 passengers to start the advance compensation process, Bernama reports.

    It reiterates that this is intended only to help with their financial needs, and would not affect their right to claim further compensation later.

    However, the sum paid out would be kept private and confidential out of respect for the families, the report says.

    38 Malaysians on board, not 34

    4.05pm: MAS has confirmed that there are 38 Malaysian passengers on board MH370, as disclosed in the passenger manifest released earlier.

    According to Bernama yesterday, the confusion arose after a reporter asked why there were only 34 Malaysians listed in the aircraft’s seating plan released on Thursday.

    Checks by Malaysiakini on the seating plan and passenger manifest released early in the crisis has counted 38 Malaysians on both lists, not including another 12 Malaysian crew members.

    Kit Siang: Hisham losing credibility, and knows it

    3.30pm: Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein’s repeated assertions that he was nothing to hide is “the most potent proof” that he realises he is losing credibility at home and abroad, says DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang.

    Lim, in a statement, says the minister is evading questions even as the latter reiterates he has nothing to hide, particularly over who is responsible for missteps made in the first hours of MH370’s disappearance.

    “Hishammuddin cannot regain national and international confidence in the crisis management of MH370 disaster by reiterating umpteenth times the refrain that the Malaysian government has nothing to hide, but only by fully observing the principles of openness and accountability in every aspect and facet of the handling of the MH370 disaster in the past nine weeks,” Lim says.

    He also expresses disbelief that the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) chief Angus Houston’s statement that attention should be given “ wholly and solely ” to the search effort rather than past mistakes.

    “Houston was not being very professional in parrying the question with a non sequitur, as nobody is suggesting any halt to the search for the missing MH370,” he says.   

    Beijing lawyers offer free legal advice

    2.10pm: Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will allocate US$50,000 (RM163,325) for every Chinese passenger on board MH370 as advance compensation payment for their next-of-kin.

    In its report yesterday, Bernama says a noticed posted at Lido Hotel, Beijing, where many of the next-of-kin have gathered, claimed the airline would notify them of the details in a fortnight

    The money is meant to help cover their immediate economic needs.

    Meanwhile, the South China Morning Post reports that the Beijing Lawyer’s Association has 71 lawyers ready to provide the families with free legal advice and help negotiate compensation.

    However, the report quotes an unnamed Tianjin woman saying: “Accepting the money and signing with the lawyers would mean I accept that he's dead… I'm not ready to do that yet.”

    China going 'all out' in next SAR phase

    1.30pm: The Chinese Maritime Search and Rescue Centre says it will go “all out” with the underwater search for MH370, according to Chinese state media Xinhua yesterday.

     

    “Navy vessel 872 with strong underground (sic) searching capacities has left for the southern Indian Ocean and is expected to arrive on May 10,” the report says, quoting the centre’s deputy chief Wang Zhenliang.

    MAS clarifies Lithium-ion cargo confusion

    11am: MAS clarifies that there are only 221kilogrammes of lithium-ion batteries carried as cargo onboard MH370, and not over 2,000 as stated in the cargo manifest released on Thursday.    

    In a statement yesterday, the airline says the document released alongside MH370’s cargo manifest is actually a “master airway bill” comprised of five separate “house airway bills (AWB)”.

    “Of these five AWB, two contained lithium-ion batteries amounting to a total tonnage volume of 221kilogrammes.

    “The balance three house AWB, amounting to 2,232kg, were declared as radio accessories and chargers,” it says.

    Previously, MAS chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya told reporters that it carried about 200 kilogrammes of the batteries, but the air waybill released on Thursday indicated a shipment of 200 items including batteries totalling 2,453 kilograms.

    Meanwhile, shipper NNR Global Logistics (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd tells The Star that the batteries weighed under 200kilogrammes, but declined comment on the remaining cargo citing legal advice.

        

    Background:

    • The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft went missing not long after taking off from KL International Airport in the early hours of March 8, with 12 crew members and 227 passengers.

     

  • Authorities have determined that the plane intentionally turned back and altered its course shortly after cutting communications with tower controllers for unknown reasons and, based on satellite data, have estimated its last position to be in the south Indian Ocean.
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  • Australia leads the search in the south Indian Ocean. As of March 30, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) is tasked with overseeing the operations, led by retired air marshal and former defence chief Angus Houston.
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  • The autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) Bluefin-21 was deployed on April 14 to conduct an undersea search where the Australia Defence Vessel Ocean Shield had picked up two pings similar to black boxes on April 5 and two more on April 8 but failed to reacquire them again with the pinger locator.
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  • However, after 52 days with no sign of the wreckage, authorities announced that the search will move on the next phase, which will focus on a larger and deeper area of the sea floor, while the aerial search will cease as it is highly unlikely any floating debris will be found at this stage.
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