Flight MH370 Update: Relatives Of Passengers Head To Madagascar To Lobby For Search Extension

Relatives of the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 departed for Madagascar Saturday to lobby for an extension in the search for the plane. Before their departure, they added that if needed, they would take the search into their own hands.

The Voice 370, an MH370 support group, mentioned earlier of a trip to Madagascar during which they planned on searching the country’s beaches for wreckage from the missing plane. All debris believed to be from the flight were found in east Africa.

Voice 370 spokeswoman Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother was on the ill-fated plane, reportedly said: “After repeated attempts, and repeated requests for a mobilization of a search along the coastline, nothing has been done to date. So it has fallen into our hands to take this search upon ourselves.”

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. A multimillion-dollar search operation of more than 46,000-square-mile area of a remote part of the southern Indian Ocean has not yielded any concrete clues so far. It is believed the plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Australian authorities said last month that the search operation will end early 2017. However, if any credible clues are found during this time, authorities will plan the next level of the search.

Three members of the Voice 370 group from Malaysia, two from China and one from France are making this self-funded trip to Madagascar. The trip will last till Dec. 11.

The group said last month: “Despite these hugely important finds, there has been no systematic, organized search by any responsible party. This leaves the NOKs [next of kin] no other choice except to take it upon ourselves to do something to find answers and closure.”