Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak, citing a new analysis of satellite data by a British satellite company and accident investigators, has said that Flight 370 went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
The 777 Boeing plane, which left from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, China on March 8, has been reportedly missing for over two weeks. 227 passengers and 12 crew members were on the flight.
"They have told us all lives are lost," said a relative of a missing passenger who had been briefed by the airline. Information as to went wrong aboard the airliner has still not been disclosed, nor has any information as to how it went missing in the first place.
"Based on new analysis... MH370 flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth. It is therefore, with regret, that I must inform you that according to this new data that flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean," said Prime Minister Razak.
The Prime Minister's statement came after the airline sent a text message to relatives, which read it "deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on-board survived." The passengers' relatives in Beijing were called to a hotel near the airport to hear the prime minister's announcement.
The airline said it was making plans to fly families to Australia as soon as wreckage is found. Two objects were reportedly by Australian officials, which could be related to the flight. One was reportedly a "grey or green circular object," while the other is "an orange rectangular object," said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
"They could be flotsam. Nevertheless we are hopeful that we can recover these objects soon and that they will take us a step closer to resolving this tragic mystery," said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
The authorities hoped to retrieve the objects by Tuesday morning, according to Hishammuddin Hussein, Malalysia's acting transportation minister.
Aircrafts from Australia, China, the U.S. and Japan searched the area on Monday. Rescuers were "searching both a northern route and the southern route," as reported in The Associated Press.
Search vessels were steaming toward the area, though were not expected to arrive until Tuesday, also according to news reports.
Investigators "have not ruled out hijacking, sabotage, pilot suicide or mass murder," as reported by The Associated Press.
Malaysian authorities have said that the jet was intentionally diverted from its flight path during the overnight flight, having flown off-course for several hours.
Someone who "had a high degree of technical knowledge and flying experience" had shut down communications with the ground, and the jetliner continued flying for six hours, Prime Minister Razak said two weekends ago.
