Beijing - Chinese relatives of passengers on MH370 refused to believe that wreckage from the missing plane had been found on Thursday.
“It is not from an official confirmed source. I doubt it is true,” said Liu Dongliang, whose brother was on the Malaysia Airlines flight that disappeared without a trace in March 2014.
“I want my family back,” he told dpa.
He voiced scepticism, noting that the debris was found thousands of kilometres away from the primary search zone.
The missing aeroplane was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and two-thirds of the flight’s 227 passengers were Chinese citizens.
Many Chinese relatives have clung to the remote possibility that the plane never crashed, and they have clashed with Malaysia Airlines over insufficient compensation and an unsuccessful search effort.
Mei Ling, another victim’s relative, said she immediately called the liaison office on hearing news about the debris found on the French island of Reunion, in the western Indian Ocean.
“It is not confirmed to be the debris of MH370,” she said.
“I want to know the location of my family, not just some debris from a plane.”
Chen Pu, whose wife was on the flight, also dismissed reports on the wreckage as mere speculation.
“This is a rumour like the other rumours,” he said.
“I don’t believe it and I suggest people not spread rumours.”
DPA