Families of passengers still missing aboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are falling short in their efforts to raise USD 5 million to fund private investigation into the aircraft’s disappearance and reward sources who might come forward with more information.
A crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo has so far raised over USD 80,000 and may reach its target of USD 100,000 when it closes on July 8, but that number has been revised down from the earlier USD 5 million figure, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Registered in Kowloon, Hong Kong, and representing families and loved ones of the missing passengers including former Beijing resident and beijingkids contributor Sarah Bajc, MH370 Is Missing With 239 People On Board, Help The Families Find The Truth’s video states "The investigation has failed," and later "We must find the truth."
Bajc appears in the video holding a sign that says, "My name is Sarah Bajc. My life partner Philip Wood sat in 11c on MH370. I am on the Governance Committee for Reward MH370. Please Donate!"
Also appearing in the video is Ghyslain Wattrelos, whose wife Laurence, son Hadrien, and daughter Ambre, are among the 239 missing passengers and crew. Hadrien and Ambre both attended the Lycee Francais International de Pekin, as did Hadrien’s friend Zhao Yan, who was also on board MH370.
An unidentified member of the group’s governance committee expressed frustration over the relatively low number of donations,especially in view of the success of other campaigns, in an update to the MH370 page. "Esther the wonder pig has raised CAD 450,000 in the last 4 weeks to build a sanctuary from over 7,500 contributors. Yet, our campaign to find 239 missing humans with 239 grieving families is failing to gain traction and or wide spread [sic]support," the post reads.
An earlier campaign, "Ready to Believe: MH370 Comfort Campaign," started by a Washington, DC-based group called Spark & Hustle closed after almost two months without raising a single dollar.
Malaysia Airlines MH370 dropped from radar on March 8 during a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 passengers and crew aboard. No verified communication or objects from the plane have been received or found since then. Along with 154 Chinese passengers, a number of members of Beijing’s international community remain missing.
A full list of non-Chinese passengers categorized by nationality is here. A full list of passengers including Chinese names can be found here.
This post first appeared on thebeijinger.com on Jul 1, 2014.
Photos courtesy of thebeijinger.com
