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Missing airliner carrying 239 triggers Southeast Asia search

Malaysia’s transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said he had “no information” or confirmation on the plane’s fate, and was pressing Vietnam’s navy for details after state media quoted an official as saying it had crashed into the sea.

The lack of information sparked fury among anguished relatives in Beijing.

“They should have told us something before now,” one visibly distressed man in his 30s said at a hotel where passengers’ families were asked to gather.

“They are useless,” another young man said of the airline. “I don’t know why they haven’t released any information.”

At Kuala Lumpur International Airport, distraught family members trickled in to a designated waiting area for loved ones, escorted by authorities.

Hamid Ramlan, a 56-year-old Kuala Lumpur police officer, said his daughter, 34, and son-in-law, 24, were on the flight for an intended holiday in Beijing.

“My wife is crying. Everyone is sad. My house has become a place of mourning,” he said. “This is Allah’s will. We have to accept it.”

“Being a policeman over 33 years, this is my worst day.”

An accident would be a huge blow for Malaysian Airlines, which has bled money for years as it struggles to fend off competition from rivals such as fast-growing Malaysia-based AirAsia.

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Analysts have blamed poor management, government interference, and union resistance to reform of the airline.

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