Frustrated by seemingly mixed messages from the Malaysian and French governments over whether debris definitely linked to the missing Boeing 777, the 50-strong group attempted to gain entry to the building to demand an explanation from officials.
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The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement: “We request that the Malaysian side earnestly implement its relevant commitments, continue to investigate the cause of the plane crash … and earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the families of the passengers”.
The overall search for the plane is being led by Malaysia because the aircraft was registered in Malaysia and departed from Kuala Lumpur, while Australia has carriage of the ocean search.
The airline described the find as “a major breakthrough”.
Mr Liow, who later specified he was referring to aircraft seat cushions and windows, said it remained to be seen whether the latest items found on the island were from the MH370.
Australian Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, vowed efforts would not stop until the plane’s disappearance was solved.
Some criticism came from within Malaysia itself. “We can tell what belongs to our loved ones”, she said. Examination of the part is continuing. “We are not living in denial…but we owe it to our [loved] ones not to declare them lost without 100% certainty!”
“We don’t care about the flight wreckage, we want the people on the flight”, said Zhang Yongli, a 64-year-old Beijing native, whose daughter was onboard the flight.
The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year, inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The passengers were only formally declared dead in January this year after a futile search in the Indian Ocean.
Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai added to the confusion, saying a Malaysian team had found more debris on the island, including a window and some aluminium foil, and had sent the material to local authorities for French investigators to examine.
“In particular, relatives and friends of the 239 on board the plane were still in anguish and not all have accepted the “confirmation” by the prime minister”. “I can only ascertain that it’s plane debris“.
But there are also reports emerging of tensions between the partner countries involved in the search, particularly over Malaysia’s handling of the investigation, while relatives of victims have again expressed outrage towards Malaysian officials.
In this image provided by the University of Western Australia on July 31, 2015, depicts how computer modeling was used in mid-2014 to show how debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 might have drifted over time.
“Debris such as the flaperon can only increase our understanding of the last seconds of the flight”, said Greg Waldron, Asia managing editor at industry publication Flightglobal.
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France is stepping up the search off Reunion Island for debris from missing Flight MH370 as Malaysia insists its investigators found more objects from a plane on the the Indian Ocean island.
