Malaysia Airlines flight relatives hunger strike threat

Furious Chinese families have threatened to go on hunger strike until the Malaysian government tells them the fate of their relatives on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.

Picture: Getty

Ten days after the airliner vanished, hundreds of family members were still waiting for information in a Beijing hotel yesterday.

Around two-thirds of the 239 passengers on board the flight are Chinese.

Families vented their anger at Chinese representatives sent by the airline to meet them yesterday.

One middle-aged woman said: “What we want is the truth. Don’t let them become victims of politics. No matter what political party you are, no matter how much power you have, if there isn’t life, what’s the point?”

The Chinese representative from the airline said what information the families received was beyond his control.

In response families shouted: “Keep protesting. Respect life. Don’t let them become victims of politics. Tell us the truth.”

A woman who had led the chanting held up a piece of paper with slogans written on it, and said the families were calling for a hunger strike.