2nd Anniversary Of MH370's Disappearance But No Closure Yet For Victims' Families

By Mohd Faizal Hassan KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 (Bernama) -- As the second anniversary of the disappearance of flight MH370 arrives, families of victims remain inconsolable. "Maybe he's going to come back, maybe he won't. Wherever they may be, I have never stopped praying to God to give them protection. "Dead or alive, may God bless them all. We're going to see all of them some day." These are the words of Maira Elizabeth, 20, the eldest child of Malaysia Airlines staff Andrew Nari who was the chief steward on board flight MH370. Her father was among 239 passengers and crew in the plane that reportedly vanished on March 8, 2014 morning after departing from Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing. "How time flies. We miss him. It gets harder when there's a special occasion or date like birthdays, anniversaries and etc because he was always there but now he's not. "You see us smile and laugh but only God knows what is in our hearts and minds. "To tell a person to be strong and that they are sorry is very easy but when you’re in the situation, your heart cries every night or at any time where you suddenly feel sad," Maira added. S. Thenmoli, 26, a sister of one of the passengers, S. Puspanathan, 34, said the family would not hold any event or special occasion on the second anniversary of the incident. Grace Subathirai Nathan, 28, whose mother was also a passenger in the plane, said the family was still hopeful and worried that search efforts for the missing plane might be called off after June. "We are going to try as hard as we can to lobby for the search to continue beyond June. We need an answer," she said. Meanwhile, Voice370, an international next-of-kin network, in a statement recently, pleaded with the governments involved "to keep searching until something is found". "Voice370 urges authorities to press on and search on in the current search area. We believe that they should not throw in the towel, close this case and simply chalk it up as an unsolvable mystery. "The festering wounds of loss and 'not knowing' have made the task of initiating even the first steps towards 'moving on' practically impossible for family members," it said. The missing plane is yet to be found although massive search operations had been conducted and ongoing in the southern Indian Ocean where Boeing 777 was believed to have ended its journey after diverting from the original route. Airline-safety standards are changing in the wake of the disappearance of MH370 two years ago but it is not happening fast enough, says Chris Hart, chairman of the US National Transportation Safety Board. He recently told The Associated Press that more should be done to put available technologies to use quickly. "We are concerned about the slow pace of progress at both the national and international levels. We believe this is long overdue," he said. To date, the search has covered more than 85,000 sq kilometres of the seafloor. -- BERNAMA