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Families of RI passengers on board flight MH370 demand evidence
The families of passengers aboard the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Medan, North Sumatra, said on Tuesday that they were hesitant to believe Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razakâs statement, in which he said that there were no survivors as the jetliner had plunged into the southern Indian Ocean
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T
he families of passengers aboard the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in Medan, North Sumatra, said on Tuesday that they were hesitant to believe Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's statement, in which he said that there were no survivors as the jetliner had plunged into the southern Indian Ocean.
All families called for the Malaysian government to present concrete evidence showing that no one survived the flight.
'We want to be certain. Will they show us the evidence?' said Siswanto, the brother of one of the passengers, Sugianto Lo.
At his house on Jl. Bilal, Medan, on Tuesday, Siswanto told The Jakarta Post that his family was very disappointed with the Malaysian prime minister's statement as no bodies had been recovered.
According to Siswanto, the statement only caused further agony.
'The statement has made families feel worse because what was said might not be true,' said Siswanto, adding that his family was waiting for an official announcement from the Malaysian government.
Suarni, Sugianto's 65-year-old mother, said she was saddened by the Malaysian prime minister's statement. She said that she often broke down and cried with Sugianto's three children, who have also lost their mother, Vinny Cintya, also aboard the plane. Suarni refused to believe that her son and daughter-in-law perished in the southern
Indian Ocean.
'I won't believe my son died until I see his body,' said Suarni as she wept.
A relative of passenger Firman Chandra Siregar, Pandapotan Siregar, also said that his family wanted the Malaysian government to show proof that no one survived the flight.
'Please give us clear proof, be it the plane wreckage, or the remains of our loved one. Without evidence, we won't be convinced that all passengers were killed,' he said.
Three Medan residents were reportedly among the 239 people aboard the Boeing 777-200 jetliner, which went missing on March 8.
They were identified as married couple Sugainto Lo and Vinny Cintya Tio, and Firman Chandra Siregar. Sigianto and Vinny were bound for Beijing, China, for a vacation, while Firman intended to go to Beijing for work after having recently graduated from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB).
Relatives started visiting the homes of the missing passengers to provide moral support and express their condolences after the Malaysian prime minister issued a statement on the fate of flight
MH370.
A relative of another passenger, Surti Dahlia Simanjuntak, an Indonesian-born Dutch citizen, was still in mourning at her home on Jl. Cangkir, Petisah district in Medan, on Tuesday.
The family did not want to comment on the statement made by the malaysian prime minister. 'Sorry, we are still in bereavement,' a family member told reporters.
Earlier, the families expressed their disappointment over the Malaysian government's slow response and lack of transparency in its efforts to search the missing plane.
