Tears at MH370's 'accident' call

There has been no trace of the plane or the 239 passengers since the disappearance on March 8 last year. Photo / AP

Grieving wife and daughter accuse Malaysian Airlines of cover up

The wife and daughter of missing MH370 New Zealander Ximin Wang say they are disgusted at the Malaysian Government's decision to declare the flight's disappearance an accident.

The Auckland women, speaking for the first time, said the announcement was an excuse to stop the search and sweep the incident under the carpet.

"How can they presume they are dead? There is no evidence. There is nothing," said Ximin Wang's wife, who asked not to be named.

"They are doing this because they want to stop searching. They want to move on."

There has been no trace of the plane or the 239 passengers since the disappearance on March 8 last year.

Through tears, Wang's wife of 27 years described him as "kind, patient and gentle; a good man".

His daughter, in her early 20s said: "Seeing just his name in the paper is like scars opened."

Malaysia's Government formally declared MH370 an accident on Thursday and said all those on board were presumed dead, paving the way for claims to begin.

Wang's wife and daughter, like many relatives, reject that and hold hope their loved ones are still alive.

"I have dreams of my father. He is on an island and he waves to me and tells me he will see me soon, that he is coming back," said Wang's daughter, who has stopped her university studies, too grief-stricken to continue.

Wang's wife now suffers severe panic attacks and cannot sleep.

She is on antidepressants and medication for anxiety.

They said the way they had been treated by Malaysia Airlines was inhumane.

Phone calls were ignored, questions unanswered and families had been given terrible news in public with news cameras ready to record their grief.

When news first broke that the plane was missing, the phone number given to distraught families didn't connect.

"We were trying the number again and again. Then we were online sitting there pressing refresh every minute," Wang's daughter said. "We were shaking and crying. It is something no one deserves to go through."

Wang's daughter said she was in contact via Facebook with Danica Weeks, the wife of Paul Weeks, the other New Zealander on board MH370.

"All the families we speak to feel the same.

"We don't want compensation. We don't want their excuses. We want them found."