Brushing aside the demand that Malaysia tenders an apology, acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said that it stemmed from a misconception.
He explained that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not mention that MH370 had crashed in the Indian ocean and that there were no survivors.
He said this when asked to respond to the demand from families of the Chinese national passengers that the Malaysian government apologise.
"This apology comes from the belief that the prime minister claimed that the plane crashed and nobody survived.
"That is completely erroneous," Hishammuddin said.
He noted that Najib in his March 24 statement had among others stated that "based on new data, the flight ended in the Indian ocean."
Relatives of the Chinese passengers vented their anger at government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Chanting "Tell us the truth", they demanded Najib to apologise for issuing misleading statements.
PM heading to Perth
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin also revealed that Najib would travel to Perth this Wednesday to observe the search operation.
He added that the prime minister wished to personally thank all those involved in the operation.
On another matter, Hishammuddin denied that the police had leaked transcripts of the alleged statements recorded from Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's family to the Daily Mail.
"It did not come from the police, you have to ask Daily Mail where it (the information) came from," he added.
His daughter, Aishah, however denied the report, and accused the British tabloid of cooking up stories.
The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
In another development, Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, said that he would be attending the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting in Hawaii from April 1 -3.
He explained that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak did not mention that MH370 had crashed in the Indian ocean and that there were no survivors.
He said this when asked to respond to the demand from families of the Chinese national passengers that the Malaysian government apologise.
"This apology comes from the belief that the prime minister claimed that the plane crashed and nobody survived.
"That is completely erroneous," Hishammuddin said.
He noted that Najib in his March 24 statement had among others stated that "based on new data, the flight ended in the Indian ocean."
Relatives of the Chinese passengers vented their anger at government officials, after arriving in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Chanting "Tell us the truth", they demanded Najib to apologise for issuing misleading statements.
PM heading to Perth
Meanwhile, Hishammuddin also revealed that Najib would travel to Perth this Wednesday to observe the search operation.
He added that the prime minister wished to personally thank all those involved in the operation.
On another matter, Hishammuddin denied that the police had leaked transcripts of the alleged statements recorded from Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah's family to the Daily Mail.
"It did not come from the police, you have to ask Daily Mail where it (the information) came from," he added.
His daughter, Aishah, however denied the report, and accused the British tabloid of cooking up stories.
The Beijing-bound plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 people on board.
In another development, Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, said that he would be attending the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting in Hawaii from April 1 -3.
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