Malaysia declared yesterday the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 an accident, clearing the way for the airline to pay compensation to victims’ relatives while the search for the plane goes on. The Boeing 777 aircraft disappeared on March 8 last year, carrying 239 passengers and crew shortly after taking off from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing.
Months of searches have failed to turn up any trace. “We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said in a statement. The announcement is in accordance with standards of annexes 12 and 13 in the International Civil Aviation, said Azharuddin.
It will allow families of the passengers to obtain assistance through compensation, he said. Malaysia Airlines was ready to proceed immediately with the compensation process to the next-of-kin of the passengers on the flight, he said. China called on Malaysia to compensate families. “We call on the Malaysian side to honor the promise made when they declared the flight to have been lost and earnestly fulfill their compensation responsibilities,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement. Most of the passengers on the plane were from China. International investigators are looking into why the Boeing jet veered thousands of miles off course from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.
The search in the Indian Ocean is still going on and Malaysia is also conducting a criminal investigation, Azharuddin said. “Both investigations are limited by the lack of physical evidence at this time, particularly the flight recorders,” he said. “Therefore, at this juncture, there is no evidence to substantiate any speculations as to the cause of the accident.” The DCA plans to release an interim report on the investigation into the missing jetliner on March 7, a day before the first anniversary of the disappearance, a minister said on Wednesday. “This declaration is by no means the end,” said Azharuddin, adding that it will continue with the search for the missing plane with assistance from China and Australia.
Normal religious rites for MH370 Buddhist and Hindu passengers
Buddhists usually will observe the normal religious rites for those who have died even though their bodies are not found or that they died in a mysterious manner.
The Buddhist Chief High Priest of Malaysia, Datuk K. Sri Dhammaratana said Buddhism did not give much priority on burials or cremations.
“The Buddhist burial ceremony is actually simple, but full of dignity and customs and Buddha too did not believe that the conscience or mental power of those who have died do not have any links with the body or ashes which have been left behind.
“Buddha believed that when someone dies, there will be a reincarnation in another place depending on his good deeds or otherwise,” he said when contacted by Bernama here yesterday.
He was asked to comment on the religious rites of Buddhists who were on board the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 following the announcement by the director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman that the aircraft had been officially declared as having been involved in an accident and that everyone on board had perished.
He said that according to the religion, only “Arahants” who had overcome all their desires will not be reborn and as such they would achieve their final objective which was “Nirvana” (paradise).
Meanwhile, for the Hindus, the “Athama Santhi Poojai” ceremony must be held by family members of the victims as a religious ritual.
The president of the Hindu Sangam Malaysia, Datuk Mohan Shan said the “Punyavachanam” ceremony must also be held by followers of the faith.
“Family members must carry out both ceremonies with the help of an ‘Iyer’ (priest) for the peace of the victim’s soul. This ceremony is most important as a ritual to honour the victim,” he said.
Funeral prayers for missing bodies are normally performed for Muslims who died of minor martyrdom due to drowning, fire, murder or accident and their bodies are not found.
Kelantan Mufti Datuk Mohamad Shukri Mohamad said such prayers were not obligatory but encouraged, and meant that the body was not present in front of the congregation or was far away.
The prayers for the missing body was similar to that performed for normal remains of dead Muslims, he said when commenting on the announcement by the Malaysian government today that the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was officially declared an accident under the international aviation regulations and that all the 239 passengers and crew members on board were considered as dead.
The flight MH370 which carried 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including two infants, disappeared from radar screens while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, about an hour after taking off from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on March 8, last year.
It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day. A search mission participated by various nations was initiated in the South China Sea and Andaman Sea before Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced on March 24 last year that the flight MH370 had “ended in the southern Indian Ocean”.
Friday 30 January 2015
http://news.kuwaittimes.net/malaysia-declares-mh370-disappearance-accident/
http://www.therakyatpost.com/news/2015/01/30/normal-religious-rites-mh370-buddhist-hindu-passengers/
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