Days after authorities dismissed the idea that MH370 may be in the Bay of Bengal, a top Malaysian official said Friday he is considering the theory.
Acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the tip could only be confirmed by sending vessels to the area, which is thousands of kilometers away from the official search area in the southern Indian ocean.
"But I just want to stress that by doing that, we are distracting ourselves from the main search," Hussein said Friday. "And in the event that the result from the search is negative, who is going to be
responsible for that loss of time?"
Hussein did not mention any specific plans to send resources to the Bay of Bengal.
His comments came three days after the Australian company GeoResonance publicized its claim that it may have found the wreckage of a plane in the Bay of Bengal.
While GeoResonance said it's not sure whether the plane is MH370, the company said it has been pressing officials to take a look.
But the chief coordinator of the international search effort said he's convinced the current search area is correct.
"I am confident that the area in the southern (Indian) Ocean is the right search area, and I'm sure that in ... some time, we'll find the aircraft in that area of the Indian Ocean," chief coordinator Angus Houston said Friday.
He said three Bangladeshi naval ships have arrived in the Bay of Bengal to investigate. So far, Houston said, the ships have found nothing.
Houston said the search for the plane, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared on March 8, may take eight to 12 months.
Families told to go home
After almost two months of waiting inside Beijing's Lido Hotel, relatives of passengers said Friday they have been told to leave.
"Chinese officials asked the family members to leave the hotel by 6 p.m. today. We don't have a choice," said Wang Yong Zhi, whose wife was on MH370.
"Family members signed a letter and left fingerprints and agreed that the family committee will continue to work with Malaysia Airlines and the government on issues such as reimbursement and compensation."
The hotel has been an important hub of information for relatives in China. More than 100 passengers on the plane are Chinese.
On Thursday, some relatives at the hotel wailed and yelled when the airline announced it was closing such assistance centers where they'd been gathered for weeks.
The closures also will mean no more daily mass briefings for the relatives.
"Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends," the airline said in a news release.
In the past few days, there has been a heavy police and Chinese government presence at the hotel. Media have been barred from broadcasting within the hotel complex.
"What can we do?" one relative yelled as others kneeled in front of police who had assembled in the hotel briefing room to keep order.
Sarah Bajc, the American partner of Flight 370 passenger Philip Wood, said she was one of about 500 people at Thursday's Lido Hotel meeting.
Bajc said Chinese relatives had told her they dreaded the day that the hotel centers would close, fearing they wouldn't get timely updates at their rural homes.
"They are very distraught, because the average Chinese family member will be sent home to mostly a very rural place with limited access to (the) Internet," she said. "They just feel like all lines of communications will be cut."
Acting Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the tip could only be confirmed by sending vessels to the area, which is thousands of kilometers away from the official search area in the southern Indian ocean.
"But I just want to stress that by doing that, we are distracting ourselves from the main search," Hussein said Friday. "And in the event that the result from the search is negative, who is going to be
responsible for that loss of time?"
Hussein did not mention any specific plans to send resources to the Bay of Bengal.
His comments came three days after the Australian company GeoResonance publicized its claim that it may have found the wreckage of a plane in the Bay of Bengal.
While GeoResonance said it's not sure whether the plane is MH370, the company said it has been pressing officials to take a look.
But the chief coordinator of the international search effort said he's convinced the current search area is correct.
"I am confident that the area in the southern (Indian) Ocean is the right search area, and I'm sure that in ... some time, we'll find the aircraft in that area of the Indian Ocean," chief coordinator Angus Houston said Friday.
He said three Bangladeshi naval ships have arrived in the Bay of Bengal to investigate. So far, Houston said, the ships have found nothing.
Houston said the search for the plane, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared on March 8, may take eight to 12 months.
Families told to go home
After almost two months of waiting inside Beijing's Lido Hotel, relatives of passengers said Friday they have been told to leave.
"Chinese officials asked the family members to leave the hotel by 6 p.m. today. We don't have a choice," said Wang Yong Zhi, whose wife was on MH370.
"Family members signed a letter and left fingerprints and agreed that the family committee will continue to work with Malaysia Airlines and the government on issues such as reimbursement and compensation."
The hotel has been an important hub of information for relatives in China. More than 100 passengers on the plane are Chinese.
On Thursday, some relatives at the hotel wailed and yelled when the airline announced it was closing such assistance centers where they'd been gathered for weeks.
The closures also will mean no more daily mass briefings for the relatives.
"Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends," the airline said in a news release.
In the past few days, there has been a heavy police and Chinese government presence at the hotel. Media have been barred from broadcasting within the hotel complex.
"What can we do?" one relative yelled as others kneeled in front of police who had assembled in the hotel briefing room to keep order.
Sarah Bajc, the American partner of Flight 370 passenger Philip Wood, said she was one of about 500 people at Thursday's Lido Hotel meeting.
Bajc said Chinese relatives had told her they dreaded the day that the hotel centers would close, fearing they wouldn't get timely updates at their rural homes.
"They are very distraught, because the average Chinese family member will be sent home to mostly a very rural place with limited access to (the) Internet," she said. "They just feel like all lines of communications will be cut."
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