We are hopeful MH370 will be found, Najib assures families

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Malaysia remained hopeful that missing flight MH370 would be found in the area currently being searched, despite three months away from a June deadline to call off the massive operation. "The current search operation is expected to be completed later this year, and we remain hopeful that MH370 will be found in the 120,000 square kilometre area under investigation. "If it is not, then Malaysia, Australia and China will hold a tripartite meeting to determine the way forward," he said in a statement today as families and relatives of the 239 passengers and crew remember for a second year the plane's disappearance during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The search for MH370, a joint effort between Malaysia, Australia and Chine and led by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, is now in its final stage, after scouring more than 85,000 sq km of a long but narrow "seventh arc", totalling 120,000 sq km of sea floor. Chief investigator Martin Dolan recently said he was confident that the missing plane would be found this year, despite the fact that the search officially ending this June. Najib thanked the search team for their efforts, and said Malaysia was committed to solving the mystery. He said the debris found on Reunion Island last year provided evidence to help investigators in solving the mystery. "But we know that neither the passage of time, nor this evidence, will comfort those whose grief cannot be assuaged," he said, adding that plane's disappearance "was without precedent". "We remain committed to doing everything within our means to solving what is an agonising mystery for the loved ones of those who were lost. "On this most difficult of days, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those who will never be forgotten," he said. – March 8, 2016.]]>