Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 Crashed In The Southern Indian Ocean

Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 plummeted into a "remote location" in the southern Indian Ocean, killing all 239 passengers on board the doomed jet, Malaysia Prime Minister Najib Razak somberly announced on Monday.

Razak did not disclose the specifics from the new data obtained UK Air Acidents Investigation Branch led officials to this shocking conclusion, which capped a more than two-week international hunt and unending theories and speculation, but he did say with absolute certainty that there will be no miracle recovery in this gripping mystery.

"It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that, according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean," Razak said. "Malaysia Airlines have already spoken to the families of the passengers and crew to inform them of this development."

U.K. officials used "a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort" to chart the jet's path along the southern corridor, terminating in a "remote location" in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia, Razak said.

Just before the announcement at 10:00 p.m. in Malaysia, the victims families were informed of the devastating news via text message, according to reports.

"For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking," Razak said. "I urge the media to respect their privacy and allow them the space they need at this very difficult time."

A group of grief-stricken relatives, who had gathered at a hotel near airport in Beijing to hear the announcement, let out ear-piercing wails and shrieks as their worst fears were confirmed. The heart-wrenching moment left them inconsolable and many on the verge of passing out - several were so overcome with emotion that they were carried out on stretchers.

For them, the past few weeks have been heartbreaking; I know this news must be harder still.
"This is a blow to us, and it is beyond description," Nan Jinyan, whose brother-in-law Yan Ling, a medical company engineer, was aboard the doomed flight.

Nan said that once Razak announced he was addressing the media, he expected the worst.

Meanwhile, tears streamed down the face of a woman who collapsed to her knees and yelled "My son! My son!."

One man had to be restrained after kicking a member of the media and threatening to "beat him to death" for filming the emotional scene.

Razak said that officials will convene again on Tuesday to unveil more information.

Multiple reports of debris found in the southern Indian Ocean had raised hopes that the seemingly endless search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 may be making progress - but now has started the grieving process for the families.

Australia’s prime minister Tony Abbott informed Parliament and Malaysian officials on Monday that two "objects" were located by an Australian P3 Orion search plane about 15,000 miles off the coast of the Perth, according to news.com.au. The first of the two was gray or green and circular, while the other was orange and rectangular in shape.

“A few minutes ago, the (Malaysian) prime minister received a call from the prime minister of Australia who informed him that the Australian search aircraft had located two objects in the Australian search area, one circular and one rectangular,” Hishamuddin Hussein, Malaysia's acting transport minister, told a media briefing Monday.

“HMAS Success is in the vicinity and it is possible that the objects could be received within the next few hours or possibly by tomorrow morning.”

This comes on the heels of a Chinese search team which also discovered debris.

China’s state news agency reported early Monday that a Chinese plane spotted two large floating objects and several white, square-shaped ones in a part of the Indian Ocean where satellite imagery has shown other potential debris.

The crew of a Chinese Ilyushin-76 plane spotted the possible plane debris from 33,000 feet on their way back to Perth, according to the Xinhua News Agency. A U.S. Navy P8 Poseidon went to investigate, but could not find the objects.

China has redirected the icebreaker Snow Dragon toward the latest find, and that ship was due to arrive early Tuesday. Six other Chinese ships have been directed toward the search zone along with 20 fishing vessels that have been asked to help, Lei said.

Relatives of passengers aboard the missing plane were avidly following news reports of the latest sightings, desperate for any word on the fate of loved ones. About two-thirds of the 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are Chinese.

“We’re eager to learn more about this,” said Wang Zhen who is staying at a hotel near Beijing. His father and mother, Wang Linshi and Xiong Yunming, were both aboard the flight as part of a group of Chinese artists touring Malaysia.

On Sunday search crews followed up on satellite images provided by France that revealed possible debris from Flight 370.

But searchers combing a vast stretch of the Indian Ocean about 1,550 miles southwest of Perth, Australia, found no evidence of the plane, which disappeared during a run from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8.

Malaysian police dismissed as “mere speculations” reports that shortly before takeoff pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah received a mysterious phone call from a woman using a cell phone obtained under a false identity.

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