‘God loves you more daddy… God loves them more’
For 17 days, teenager Maira Elizabeth Nari has stayed strong, tweeting to her missing father about missing him, waiting for her SPM results and his favourite team Liverpool winning matches.
Tonight, after it was announced that missing Malaysia Airline passenger jet MH370 ended its flight in the middle of the Indian Ocean far from any landing site, Maira tweeted: "I just don't know what to say."
The teen sounded strong. Her following tweet that came three minutes later read: "God loves you more daddy....God loves them more."
Maira's father Andrew Nari was the chief steward onboard the missing plane.
Zamani Zakaria, father to passenger Ahmad Razahan Zamani, 23, said his family would accept the loss as it was Allah's will.
"The search for them is now over. At least we don't have to be waiting around any more as it was torture," he told reporters at the Everly Hotel in Putrajaya.
Ahmad Razahan was on board the ill-fated flight with his new bride, Norli Akmar Hamid, 33, for their honeymoon in Beijing.
In Beijing, screams and cries were heard coming from a room at the Lido Hotel where dozens of families of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were gathered for the latest briefing on the fate of the plane.
Media reports said that one family member fainted after officials from MAS announced the devastating news to them.
Another report showed a picture of a "significant" number of stretchers being taken into the hotel.
A Daily Telegraph correspondent in Beijing reported that police presence at the hotel was heavy and more personnel are being brought in to control the situation.
"One relative just came out of the conference room weeping, pursued by photographers and fell down the escalator," reported the Daily Telegraph.
ABC News Asia correspondent Gloria Riviera tweeted: "No, no, no!, the words of grief at the Lido hotel after 17 days of holding onto hope".
"Desperately sad scenes here in Beijing hotel. Tears, bewilderment, anger, confusion. Heartbreaking to witness," reported Sky News correspondent Jonathan Samuels from the Lido hotel.
In Putrajaya, the family of aviation engineer Mohd Khairul Amri Selamat, burst into tears upon hearing the announcement.
Khairul's usually genial father, Selamat Omar, who has become somewhat of an icon to the media here, could not hold back his emotions and told reporters that he needed to be by himself.
Maira and Selamat were two of the family members of the victims who had expressed their grief and hopes openly throughout the 17 day ordeal.
Maira grabbed international attention shortly after the disappearance of the plane with her touching tweets to her missing father.
She kept tweeting to him, hoping that Andrew's plane will be found. Some of her tweets over the past two weeks touched the hearts of many. Among her tweets were:
"God.... The only thing I want is my father..... Nothing, but my father. I want my father back."
"Daddy. You're all over the news and papers. Come home fast, so you could read them! Don't you feel excited?"
"Daddy. It's almost 48 hours. Don't forget to eat your dinner. You must be starving."
"Come home fast, dad.. It's the only thing I want."
She also posted one at about 2am recently that read: "Normally at this hour, before my dad goes to bed, he would tell me this, 'Don't sleep so late okay'."
Maira also got the Liverpool football club's attention when she tweeted, "Daddy, Liverpool is winning the game. Come home, so you can watch the game! You never miss watching the game. It's your very first time. :')" last week, when Liverpool beat Manchester United 3-0.
Tweeting via her Twitter handle @Gorgxous_ the teen also responded to tweets sent to her and never failed to express her gratitude to well wishers.
Meanwhile, late tonight, acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein called for the privacy of the families of passengers and crew of Malaysia Airlines's MH370 to be respected.
"In these times of grief, I urge the public to give the family members some space, respect their privacy. Words just cannot describe how I feel 2nite but I promise you esp d families of all d passengers n crew: The search continues," said Hishammuddin on his Twitter account, @HishammuddinH20 late Monday night.
He added: "I truly understand there are no words which could console the family members of #MH370. The whole world is with you in these difficult times."
At 10pm today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that British investigators from the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) have concluded that MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean.
The prime minister added the plane's last known location was a remote area, far from any landing site.
MH370, which had been missing for the last 17 days disappeared from Malaysian radars at 2.15am on March 8 after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing at 1.30am. It carried 227 passengers and 12 crew. – March 24, 2014.
