MH370 memorial shelved after protest by relatives
PERTH, Australia - Plans to erect a memorial honoring the passengers and crew of missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 were shelved by Australia on Sunday after protests by relatives of the victims.
The final resting place of the Boeing 777, which had 239 people on board when it disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014, is still unknown despite two massive searches off Australia's west coast, the latest of which was suspended in May.
The Western Australia state and federal governments in 2014 flagged plans to build a monument in Perth, but relatives said they did not want it created until the jet was found.
Danica Weeks, an Australian whose husband Paul was on the flight, told The West Australian newspaper the governments "should not have wasted energy on this".
"When they find the plane, then we at least know where they are and we can make a decision about where to build a memorial that we can visit."
The first search operation was suspended last year by Australia, Malaysia and China, where most of the passengers were from.
Agence France-presse
(China Daily 07/02/2018 page12)
