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December 6, 2016

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Relatives offer rewards for MH370 debris

Source: AP | December 6, 2016, Tuesday | Print Edition

RELATIVES of passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines plane believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean in 2014 are offering rewards for anyone who finds debris.

A group of relatives who traveled to Madagascar off the southeast coast of Africa made the offer in hope that residents will scour some coastal areas of the island nation, where possible parts of Flight MH370 washed ashore.

Meanwhile, a Malaysian official investigating the disappearance of the Boeing 777 was in Madagascar’s capital, Antananarivo, to pick up debris that had already been found. It will be analyzed to see if it came from the aircraft.

“The more debris we find, the easier it will be to find where the crash happened,” said Ghislain Wattrelos, a Frenchman who lost his wife and two of his three children when the plane deviated from its flight path from Malaysia to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Malaysia, Australia and China are close to completing a deep-sea sonar search, so far unsuccessful, of 120,000 square kilometers off Australia’s southwest coast in the Indian Ocean. They say they will suspend operations if there is no new evidence that could help pinpoint the crash site. Relatives believe the search should continue.

Wattrelos, as well as two people who lost their mothers on the flight — Grace Nathan of Malaysia and Jiang Hui of China — spoke at a news conference in Antananarivo. They did not specify how much money might be given to someone who finds a confirmed piece of Flight MH370, saying it depends on the significance of the debris and the limited resources of the families.

“Everything is funded by us,” said Wattrelos, a business executive.

That includes the cost of flights, accommodation and other expenses that the relatives are spending on a weeklong trip to Madagascar, which will include travel to coastal areas where debris may have washed up after drifting across the ocean.

There, they will hand out leaflets asking people to look for possible plane parts.

The families say there are three major areas in Madagascar where Flight MH370 debris could have washed up: Isle Sainte-Marie, Antongil Bay and Nosy Be, a popular tourist destination. They also want people in Tanzania and Mozambique to be on the lookout. A piece found in Tanzania has been confirmed as part of the plane, while a couple of pieces found in Mozambique have been described as almost certainly from the plane.

Confirmation the plane crashed came last year when a wing part washed ashore on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.

Nathan said families asked officials in vain to launch a search for debris around Africa, then decided to look themselves.

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