China rules out Chinese passengers as cause of missing Malaysia Airlines flight
Posted March 18, 2014 6:15 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
China has found no evidence linking any of its citizens aboard missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 to terrorism or hijacking, China’s ambassador to Malaysia said on Tuesday.
Background checks on all passengers from the Chinese mainland have found nothing to suggest they were involved in the plane’s disappearance, Ambassador Huang Huikang said.
“China has investigated the backgrounds of all Chinese passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, and has found no evidence suggesting they are linked to destructive behavior on the aircraft. So we can rule out the suspicion that Chinese passengers are linked to a terror attack or destructive activities on the missing plane,” Huang said.
He also said China has kept close contact with Malaysian authorities during the investigation.
“China took a direct role in investigating the event soon after it happened. I can say with responsibility that China and Malaysia have been cooperating well on the issue in aspects including exchange of information and cooperation of experts. Experts dispatched by the Chinese government have been working with experts from Malaysia Airlines, participating fully in the whole investigation process,” Huang said.
The Kuala Lumpur to Beijing flight went missing in the early hours of March 8. There were 239 people on board, including 154 Chinese passengers, at the time of its disappearance.
A multinational search has so far failed to determine its whereabouts, and the plane’s fate remains a mystery.
