Beijing, March 25
Over 300 angry relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the Malaysian airliner today clashed with security personnel outside Malaysian embassy in Beijing as China demanded the truth about the jet's mysterious crash.

In a rare show of public anger in China, grief-stricken families and friends marched to the Malaysian embassy to protest the way investigation into tracing the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 (carrying 239 persons, 154 of whom were Chinese) was handled.

Demanding to meet the ambassador concerned, protesters tried to storm the building hurling around water bottles. Earlier, the relatives held a peaceful march holding placards. They were raising slogans such as "Malaysian government has cheated us" and "Malaysia, return our relatives".

The protest erupted after many relatives gathered at a hotel where kin of MH370 passengers had been put up by the Malaysian Airlines for the last two weeks. They decided to take out a march to the embassy following which the security was stepped up around the hotel and even riot police officials were deployed. Clashes broke out when the security personnel tried to contain the protesters.

The demonstration came a day after an announcement by the Malaysian authorities that the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 had crashed in a remote part of the Indian Ocean.

Emotional and violent scenes were witnessed at the hotel last night after Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the plane "ended" in the Indian Ocean off the Australian coast. Relatives of some Chinese passengers questioned the premise that the plane had crashed. There was no direct evidence to show that the plane had crashed, they maintained.

They also accused the Malaysian government of cheating the families of passengers and the world by withholding information that hindered search operations and wasted valuable time.

A surprised Chinese government itself appeared to be questioning Razak's conclusion that the jet had crashed in southern Indian Ocean. Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng, who held a meeting with the Malysian Ambassador last night, demanded Malaysia to provide "specific basis on which they come to this judgement".

He demanded the Malaysian side to provide all information and evidence related to the analysis of satellite data.

Meanwhile, the multinational search for the Malaysian jet's debris was today suspended due to bad weather in southern Indian Ocean. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said its hunt for any signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was suspended for the day due to poor weather conditions.

The area, 2,500 km southwest of Perth, experienced strong winds of up to 80 kmph, heavy rain at times, and low clouds, the agency said in a statement. — PTI