Australian Grandma Empathises With Next-Of-Kin Of Those On Board MH370

From Nik Nurfaqih Nik Wil PERTH, April 26 (Bernama) -- For years, Noelle Lang has been attending the Anzac Day dawn service at Kings Park here for her brother who went missing in action when his plane went down during World War II. According to the octogenarian, the sibling, who served the Royal Australian Air Force disappeared somewhere in the sea. "My brother, we don't have his grave because he is under the sea somewhere," the 81-year-old said poignantly of the sibling who disappeared just a few days before Christmas in 1942. Lang said she could relate to the next-of-kin of the 239 people on board the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which vanished 50 days ago, as she had faced a similar situation before. "For a person who had lost a brother during World War II, and has nowhere to place a flower other than the monument, I am sure those families (of the vanished passengers and crew) would love to know their loved ones are there somewhere," she told Bernama and RTM when met at the Kings Park here, right after the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac) Day dawn service on Friday. Anzac Day is a remembrance day held annually to honour soldiers who had served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. The dawn service attracted an almost 50,000-strong crowd to the state war memorial in Kings Park, who came as early as 5.30am. The sweet and loving grandmother who drove herself about 70km from her house to the dawn service said she had been attending the Anzac Day service in the last 20 years. Lang said she understood and felt terribly sad and sorry for those next-of-kin of the passengers and crew on board MH370 and hoped they would keep alive their hopes that the Boeing 777-200 ER aircraft would be found. Meanwhile, an army veteran who had served the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the 1950s and fought at the Gallipoli during World War I, Theo Bushe-Jones, 84, hoped that Flight MH370 would eventually be found. "It will, of course, give a lot of pleasure to Malaysia and the families," said the man whose jacket was adorned with various medals on its top. For RAN's Commander, Royce Spencer, he believed that every nation which joined in the search operation for the vanished aircraft, had done its job extremely well and to the best of its ability. "My hope is that the aircraft is found, and the people waiting for closure (to the matter) will get what they want, that will allow them to move on with their lives," he said. Flight MH370, with 239 people on board left the KL International Airport at 12.41am on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea. It was to have arrived in Beijing at 6.30am on the same day. A multinational search was mounted for the aircraft, first in the South China Sea and then, after it was learnt that the plane had veered off course, in the southern Indian Ocean. After an analysis of satellite data indicated that the plane's last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth, Australia, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on March 24 that Flight MH370 "ended in the southern Indian Ocean". The search for the missing flight which entered the 49th day Friday, went underwater on April 14, but still no contact of interest has been found, thus far. -- BERNAMA