Many Chinese families of passengers on the missing Malaysian airliner demanded on Friday that Malaysian officials retract their statement that all aboard died, saying that without hard evidence they don’t want to start compensation claims.
Malaysia’s government formally declared still-missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 an accident on Thursday and said all those on board were presumed dead, paving the way for claims to begin.
“We don’t accept it. As a matter of fact, we are demanding the statement to be retracted,” Zhang Qian, whose husband was on the plane, said on Friday.
Earlier this week, in anticipation of the Malaysian statement, 110 members of a group 115 relatives of passengers voted during a mobile phone group chat to demand that Malaysia refrain from making any announcement.
Jiang Hui, mother a passenger aboard the flight, said the new announcement was based on no new facts.
“We not only demand the Malaysian government retract the statement, but also issue an apology,” Ms. Jiang said. “That’s the wish of the majority of family members.”
“I feel like I am giving it all up if we start talking about compensation,” Ms. Zhang said. “We don’t need compensation, and we would be more than glad not to ask for a dime if my husband comes back to me.”
Malaysia’s civil aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said on Thursday that the search for the jet “remains a priority.”
The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.
