The Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has held a news conference confirming that all those on board the flight have been lost.
He said the satellite data showed the plane was last recorded to be in the ocean off the western coast of Australia.
“It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” he said.
Sky’s Jonathan Samuels in Beijing said there were “very, very distressing” scenes as relatives were told the news.
“Some people were in tears, others are helping those struggling and a woman is screaming in absolute anguish. It’s very tough to watch,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines told relatives they should “assume beyond any reasonable doubt” that all those on the plane have been lost.
“Malaysia Airlines 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 airline said.
“As you will hear in the next hour from Malaysia’s Prime Minister, we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.”
The flight vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after take-off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 with 239 people on board.
No confirmed sighting of the plane has been made since, but debris has been found in remote waters off Australia which might be part of the missing plane.
Sky News
