Families mourn after Malaysia declares plane lost at sea

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak late on Monday in a televised announcement from Kuala Lumpur, said there was no longer any doubt that Flight 370 went down in the southern Indian Ocean.
Copies of Malaysia's biggest English-language daily, The Star, running a stark wrap-around cover emblazoned with the words "MH370 R.I.P.", are displayed on a stand at a hotel in Putrajaya, outside Kuala Lumpur.

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A woman waits outside a room amongst journalists waiting for relatives of the Chinese passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane at a hotel in Beijing, China.

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rieving Chinese relatives of passengers on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 try to remove a police barricade blocking journalists as they gather to protest outside the Malaysian embassy in Beijing.

Photo credit: AFP

A sympathy message is displayed at the webpage of the Malaysia Airlines website, in Shah Alam, outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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A Chinese relative of a passenger of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 reacts at a hotel in Bangi, near Putrajaya.

Photo credit: AFP

Chinese relatives of passengers onboard the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, flight MH370, shout in protest as they march towards the Malaysia embassy in Beijing, China.

Photo credit: AP

Police are combing through the personal, political and religious backgrounds of pilots and crew of a missing Malaysian jetliner, trying to work out why someone aboard flew the plane hundreds of miles off course, a senior officer said on Sunday.

No trace of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200ER has been found since it vanished on March 8 with 239 people on board, but investigators believe it was diverted by someone who knew how to switch off its communications and tracking systems.

As authorities desperately try to re-focus the multinational search, India said it was suspending operations around island chains northwest of the Malay Peninsula, at the request of Malaysian officials.

The disappearance of Flight MH370 has baffled investigators, aviation experts and internet sleuths since the plane vanished from civilian air traffic control screens off Malaysia's east coast less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing.

For relatives of those missing, the wait for any firm news has been agonising.

In subsequent slides, a graphic representation of the various aspects of the probe into the flight's mysterious disappearance.