FIVE years after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, family members of victims remain hopeful that the mystery behind the tragedy will one day be unveiled.

At a remembrance event in Kuala Lumpur’s Publika shopping mall today, several family members of the passengers and crew on board the ill-fated flight said that despite the failure of deep ocean searches to reveal much information on the incident, they would continue to fight for answers.

“Having a (piece of) debris here at this event does not mean there is a closure. Family members want to know the truth,” said Narendran K.S. from India, whose wife Chandrika Sharma was one of the 239 people on board MH370.

“Our prayers remain unchanged. Find the plane, find the passengers, give us the truth. Not too many people are convinced of the disappearance.

“The burden is on the government to find credible evidence,” he said.

Transport Minister Anthony Loke, who was also present at the event, pledged to press on to find the truth behind the incident, adding that it was unfortunate for friends and family members to not be able to receive concrete answers for the past five years.

“I am here with a heavy heart, five years have gone and we are still looking for answers for the 239 lives on board of the plane,” said Loke.

“It was unfortunate that there is no answer to be given for the bereaved family members. We will continue to do our best to find the truth and we remain steadfast in solving this mystery,” he said.

“The government hopes for a credible lead to come and we promise to give answers you deserve.”

Grace Subathirai Nathan, whose mother was one of the passengers aboard MH370, urged the Pakatan Harapan government to take up the offer put forward by Ocean Infinity Ltd to continue with its deep ocean search.

She said the government should take up the offer, as it is based on “no cure no fee” offer.

“I welcomed the speech by the minister and we are all thankful for the promise and I have taken down notes on what was said.

“However, I would like to implore the government to take up the offer made by Ocean Infinity Ltd to continue with the deep ocean search.

“The company has made a ‘no cure, no fee’ offer, and we believe that the government should not hesitate to take up the offer,” she said.

Flight MH370 vanished off radar screens while on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The disappearance has been classified as among the world’s greatest aviation mysteries.

Australia, Malaysia and China jointly suspended a two-year underwater search for the aircraft in January last year. No sign of the plane was found in the 120,000 sq km search area in the southern Indian Ocean.

So far, only three confirmed fragments of MH370 have been found, all of them on the western Indian Ocean shores, including a 2m wing part known as a flaperon.

In January last year, former transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said the search for MH370 would resume with Ocean Infinity’s Seabed Constructor vessel attempting to cover 25,000 sq km within 90 days after an agreement was reached between the two parties.

The primary mission of the ship was to identify the location of the wreckage and/or both of the flight recorders; the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR).

When its search efforts failed, the company’s official search was called off in June last year. – March 3, 2019.