Malaysia 'baffled' by disappearance of plane: Official

5 Dariya News

Mumbai, 18-Mar-2014

Malaysia has been left "totally baffled" over the mysterious disappearance of flight MH-370, a visiting Malaysian official said here Tuesday."We know as much as you know," Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board director-general Mirza Mohammad Taiyab told media persons here.The plane went missing March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The passengers included five Indians, 154 Chinese and 38 Malaysians.Taiyab is on a visit to Mumbai along with other tourism officials to promote the "Visit Malaysia" year.He said the tourism minister, who was slated to arrive here, cancelled his trip following the incident which has stunned the whole world.

The entire Malaysian cabinet, including the prime minister, is involved in monitoring the search now being carried out by as many as 26 countries, he said.Asked whether this was the appropriate time to promote tourism when the country was trying to ascertain the fate of the 239 people onboard the missing aircraft, Taiyab said: "The show must go on. Business has to be carried out and airlines need to continue with their flights.""All of us are looking into the incident. The matter has been accorded top priority and investigators are working round-the-clock to unravel the mystery," he assured.

However, Taiyab said "accidents do happen, but that does not mean life should come to a standstill"."It is not with great joy that I am saying, but then, the next flight to Beijing went with full (passenger) load," he said.Stating that the incident has affected tourism, with some cancellations from China, "tourist flow from India continues to be stable".On the role of Malaysian Airlines, Taiyab said its officials were in touch with the family members of the missing passengers and providing them regular updates.

Referring to reports that two passengers on the missing flight had stolen passports, Malaysian officials at the briefing insisted that the security measures at the Kuala Lumpur airport were "on par with any airport around the world"."One always learns a lesson from such incident. The immigration systems are being addressed to pinpoint and address the flaws, if any," an official said.