MH370: Closure brings little comfort to grieving loved ones

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PUTRAJAYA: The family of aviation engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat could not control their emotions, bursting into tears as they listened to the announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak that the Malaysia Airlines aircraft in which their loved one was on is believed to have gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.

At the Everly Putrajaya hotel here, Mohd Khairul Amri’s father Selamat Omar, who usually spoke to pressmen almost immediately after earlier press conferences, told journalists he needed a moment by himself.

Zamani Zakaria, the father of passenger Ahmad Razahan Zamani, 23, said his family would slowly accept the loss as “the will of Allah”.

“The search for them is now over. At least, we don’t have to wait as it is a torture,” he said when contacted by reporters.

Maira Elizabeth Nari, daughter of Andrew Nari, the chief steward of MH370, took to Twitter after Najib’s announcement.

The teenager’s heart-wrenching tweet, under the handle @Gorgxous, read: “I just don’t know what to say about it :’). God loves you more, daddy.... God loves them more. :’)”

Maira has drawn considerable support ever since she took to Twitter to express her hope that the passengers and crew would return and how she missed her father.

At 10pm last night, Najib announced in a hastily-called press conference that British investigators had confirmed that Flight MH370 went down in the southern Indian Ocean, in a remote location “far from any possible landing sites”.

G. Subramaniam, whose son was on Flight MH370, sounded dazed when The Star called him at home in Klang last night.

His son Puspanathan, 34, a marketing manager with Petronas here, had been on his wayto Beijing for work.

Subramaniam said his relatives had arrived at his home in Telok Panglima Garang near Banting.

A woman’s voice, believed to be Puspanathan’s mother A. Amirtham, was heard wailing in the background during the short interview.