Distraught and frustrated, many relatives demanded the airline release more information regarding Beijing-bound Flight MH, which disappeared early Saturday with passengers and crew from 14 nations.
The airline warned relatives Sunday "to expect the worst," but one Chinese family clung to faint hope that their loved one isn't dead: the sound of a ringing cellphone. The multination search for the plane has yielded little to date. A low-flying plane on Sunday spotted an object in waters off Vietnam that could be debris from the site, but no official determination had been made, authorities said.
Once the location is determined, Malaysia Airlines will set up a response control center either in Kota Bharu, Malaysia's northernmost major city, or in Vietnam, Ignatius Ong, an airline representative, told a news conference Sunday in Beijing. Vietnam is setting up a command center in Phu Quoc. The airline will fly two family members for each missing passenger to Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, or another destination if it is closer to the plane's location.
Efforts by Chinese authorities to fast-track passports for relatives who lack them appeared to succeed, as some relatives reported receiving passports Sunday, when Beijing's passport office is closed, within hours of applying. The first flight for relatives who want to travel to Kuala Lumpur will be Monday, said Ong, while arrangements will continue for those who decide to wait in Beijing.
But many relatives remained angry Sunday at the still-limited information available, after receiving very little news Saturday. More than 80 relatives, after a midafternoon meeting with airline representatives, signed a petition demanding the airline "announce the truth of this incident" by 5 p.
