MH370 Families Push for New Search

Relatives of passengers on a Malaysia Airlines plane that mysteriously vanished 10 years ago pushed for a new search as they spoke of enduring grief and the struggle to find closure.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 people, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, while en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Despite the largest search in aviation history, the plane has never been found.

About 500 relatives and their supporters gathered at a shopping center near the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur for a "remembrance day", with many visibly overcome with grief.

They lit 239 candles, one for each passenger lost on the flight.

Some relatives came from China, where almost two-thirds of the passengers of the doomed plane were from.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke told reporters that "as far Malaysia is concerned it is committed to finding the plane... cost is not the issue."

He told relatives at the gathering that he would meet with officials from Texas-based marine exploration firm Ocean Infinity, which conducted a previous unsuccessful search to discuss a new operation.

"We are now awaiting for them to provide suitable dates and I hope to meet them soon".

Ocean Infinity's search in 2018 ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

An earlier Australia-led search that covered 120,000 square kilometers  in the Indian Ocean found hardly any trace of the plane, with only some pieces of debris picked up.

Considered the biggest search in aviation history, the operation was suspended in January 2017.

The plane's disappearance has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.