There have been emotional scenes at a temple in Beijing where relatives of passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 gathered to mark six months since the plane disappeared.
About 30 relatives listened to a man read a poem, some crying and sitting on the floor.
Tempers flared when police tried to move people on, sparking shouting.
No trace of the Beijing-bound aircraft has been found since it disappeared on 8 March, carrying 239 people. [eap_ad_2] Based on analysis of satellite data, MH370 is believed to have ended its journey in seas far west of the Australian city of Perth.
Investigators do not know what happened to the flight, however, and finding its “black box” flight recorders is seen as key to understanding the factors behind its disappearance.
Teams are now preparing to search a 60,000 square km priority area in the Indian Ocean, using towed deep water vehicles equipped with side scan sonar, multi-beam echo sounders and video cameras.
At the moment the ocean floor is being mapped to facilitate the underwater search, which will begin later this month.
The agency co-ordinating the search says it remains “cautiously optimistic” the plane will be found.
Acting search chief Judith Zielke told the BBC that experts were continuing to refine the priority search area, based on data analysis.[eap_ad_3]
