The Malaysian prime minister announced Monday that the missing Malaysia Airlines jet crashed in a remote area of the Indian Ocean.
Citing new satellite data, Najib Rizak said during a news conference at 10 a.m. New York time that the plane’s last known location was a remote area over the water, and therefore he concluded that the flight ended in the water, with all 239 passengers and crew aboard.
“Based on the new analysis, [investigators] have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean west of Perth,” Rizak said in announcing the dramatic development.
“This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore for with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that according to this new data, Flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” he said.
Malaysia Airlines on Monday also told relatives of the people on board the missing jet that it believes the plane went down in the Indian Ocean with no survivors.
“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,” it said in a text message to relatives, the BBC reported.
In China, men and women shrieked and sobbed uncontrollably at the news 17 days after the plane disappeared.
Others held up their loved ones who were near collapse.
One woman fell to her knees, crying, “My son! My son!”
Relatives of passengers in Beijing had been called to a hotel near the airport to hear the announcement.
In Malaysia, Selamat Omar, the father of a 29-year-old aviation engineer who was on the flight, said relatives of other passengers broke down in tears at the news.
“We accept the news of the tragedy. It is fate,” Selamat said.
Selamat said the airline hasn’t told the families yet whether they will be taken to Australia, which is coordinating the search for the plane. He said they expect more details Tuesday.
The discovery was made by the British satellite company Inmarsat, which employed a new algorithm to calculate the last known location of the missing plane.
Rescuers had been searching both a northern route and the southern route, where the plane is now believed to have gone down.
Search vessels were steaming toward the area but were not expected to arrive until Tuesday.
The announcement came as Australian and Chinese search planes on Monday spotted more debris where satellite images had shown objects that could have come from the missing airliner.
But it was unclear if the debris came from the jet.