Happy to reopen MH370 search if compelling evidence found: Malaysian PM

Happy to reopen MH370 search if compelling evidence found: Malaysian PM

NEW DELHI: Ten years after the mysterious disappearance of Malaysian flight MH-370 with 239 people onboard, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday said he would be “happy to reopen” the search for the plane if “compelling” evidence emerged.

“If there is compelling evidence that it needs to be reopened, we will certainly be happy to reopen it,” he said when asked about the matter during a visit to Melbourne.

“I don’t think it’s a technical issue. It’s an issue affecting the lives of people and whatever needs to be done must be done,” he added.

In Melbourne, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the loved ones of those passengers were suffering “ongoing grief” as he expressed deep “regret” that it could not be located.

“We understand that at this time, it will be a very difficult time for people because they weren’t given the certainty that would come with a successful search mission.”

Earlier, after receiving a proposal from a marine exploration company for a fresh search, transport minister Anthony Loke said the he has asked Ocean infinity for a briefing in its latest plan.

Speaking at a commemoration event marking the tragedy, the minister said the US company had made a “no-cure, no-fee” proposal, which means it would get paid only if the wreckage is found.

The Beijing bound Malaysian plane vanished on March 8, 2014. The investigators concluded that the plane deliberately left its planned flightpath, looped back to Malaysia and headed out to sea. The plane likely cruised south for about six hours and came down in the southern Indian Ocean when it ran out of fuel.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found and the operation was suspended in January 2017.

Later, an Australia-led search covered 120,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean but could only find some pieces of debris of the plane.

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