Families of Flight 370 passengers seek information

June 11, 2014: Chinese relatives of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 cry outside the airlines' office after officials from the airline refused to meet with them in Beijing, China. (AP) (The Associated Press)

prev next

A couple, whose son was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cry after officials from the airline refused to meet them outside the airlines' office building in Beijing, China Wednesday, June 11, 2014. Despite a massive air and sea search, no trace of Flight 370 has been found, three months after it vanished after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (The Associated Press)

A policewoman watches a couple, whose son was onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, cry after officials from the airlines refused to meet them outside the airlines' office building in Beijing, China Wednesday, June 11, 2014. Despite a massive air and sea search, no trace of Flight 370 has been found, three months after it vanished after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing. (AP Photo/Andy Wong) (The Associated Press)

BEIJING – About two dozen relatives of Chinese passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight demanded more information at a Beijing building that houses the airline's regional office on Wednesday, more than three months after the plane disappeared en route to the city.

Under the tight watch of at least a dozen Chinese police and several building employees, the relatives were kept from entering the office building.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 is thought to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board, but a seabed search has found no trace of the plane.

"Please give us the truth and tell us the right way to find our beloved ones," said Dai Shuqin, whose sister was on the plane with her husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandchild. "It has been extremely hard for us, and we can't take it anymore."

The relatives have long criticized Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government for not being more forthcoming with information. They say they have been demanding the flight data of the plane, an analysis of its possible tracks and video footage of the passengers boarding the plane. Their goal, they say, is to account for the whereabouts of the plane and the people it was carrying.

Some relatives say they are in touch with lawyers but that it's too early to discuss compensation until the plane is located.

"We do not care about compensation but please let us know more information," said Zhang Qian, her tears resembling beads as they rolled down her cheeks as she spoke of her missing husband, Wang Houbin, 28. "We've gone from days of wearing down jackets to now, summer, and we are still waiting."