KUALA LUMPUR: Those on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have not been forgotten and will continue to be in everyone's thoughts.
In a statement to commemorate the second anniversary of the airliner's disappearance, Australia’s Infrastructure and Transport Minister Darren Chester said the authorities owed it to the memory of the passengers as well as their loved ones to complete the search.
“It is today two years since Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
“I do not think it is possible to fully understand how difficult the past two years have been for the friends and families of those on board the aircraft. The sense of loss is something they live with on a daily basis,” he said.
Chester said a tragedy such as MH370 touches people from all over the world, adding that today everyone was united in remembering all 230 people who were on the flight.
"We owe it to their memory, and to the loved ones who mourn them, to honour the undertaking to complete the search of the area experts determined as most likely to contain the missing aircraft.
“Finding the aircraft would give answers to the world, in particular the families of missing loved ones, about what happened.
“We have completed around 90,000 sq km of the 120,000 sq km search zone. Our vessels are at sea for a month at a time in the search zone using sonar and underwater technologies to search the ocean floor reaching depths of 6000 metres.
“As we search the remaining 30,000 sq km zone in the days and months ahead, Australia, Malaysia and China remain hopeful the aircraft will be found,” he said.