Beijing: Relatives of the Chinese passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have reacted with suspicion, disbelief and shock to reports that wreckage from the plane may have been found on an island in the Indian Ocean.
There were 153 Chinese passengers on the Beijing-bound Boeing 777 when it disappeared on 8 March last year after leaving Kuala Lumpur and many of their families continue to harbour hopes that they might one day return.
Reports that debris of a Boeing 777 had been found on Reunion, east of Madagascar, did little to change their minds.
Cheng Liping, a mother-of-one whose husband, Ju Kun, was on the flight, told the Guardian: “Personally, I don’t believe it. I don’t believe that they have found it. It’s been more than a year. If they were able to find it they would have already found it. Why now and why just a small piece of debris?”
Jack Song, whose sister Song Chunling was lost, agreed. “Nobody believes it. If it belongs to 370, where are the other things like the seats, the cargo?” he said.
News that one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history could have moved a step closer to resolution came to the Chinese families in the early hours of Thursday.
Shortly after midnight, one relative posted reports of the find on social media. Minutes later another relative, whose mother was on the plane, sent an anxious reply. “Who has more information?” When did they find it?” the message said.
By daybreak, relatives were still struggling to make sense of the development.
Steve Wang, who lost his 57-year-old mother, said he had received no official communication from authorities or Malaysia Airlines and had only learned of the news on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter.
“This has happened several times before. I just want to wait for the final announcement by the government, by Malaysia Airlines, by the officials,” he said.
“We are just telling each other to wait, just wait. We are not experts. We do not know whether the debris is from a 777 or not.”
By Thursday afternoon – when a Malaysia official said it was “almost certain” that the wreckage came from a Boeing 777 – some relatives were still struggling to take in the day’s events.
“Let’s wait a few more days. I’m a bit lost right now,” Xu Jinghong, the daughter of one passenger, told the Changjiang News, a Chinese newspaper.
In a statement, the families said they were holding out for information that was “100 per cent positive” and asked for Malaysian authorities to reopen a help centre for relatives that had been operating on the outskirts of Beijing. “We care more about where our families are rather than where the plane’s wreckage is,” they added.
Beijing said it was “closely observing the situation”, Xinhua, China’s official news agency, reported. “We have noticed the reports and are wasting no time in obtaining and checking the information,” Hong Lei, a foreign ministry spokesperson, said.
Cheng Liping, whose husband was a professional stuntman, said: “Since I don’t believe it, I’m not thinking too much about it and the news has not affected my mood much.”
Cheng and many other Chinese relatives have long rejected the official narrative for the disaster, according to which MH370 crashed into the southern Indian Ocean killing all 239 people on board.
Speaking to the Changjiang News, another relative said he was so convinced the plane had been hijacked that he would not accept the debris was from MH370 even if the United States claimed it was.
“Technology is so advanced these days that an iPhone can be located if it is lost,” said Zhang Yongli, whose daughter was on the plane. “How is it possible that a plane cannot be found?”
In their statement, the relatives again hinted at their conviction that a conspiracy had caused the tragedy and was concealing the truth.
“Did the plane land somewhere in the middle of the flight?” they asked.
