KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – Bad weather suspended the search Tuesday for any remains of a Malaysian jetliner as China demanded information a day after Malaysia’s leader said the heartbreaking conclusion was that Flight 370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean with no survivors.
Planes and ships have been crisscrossing a remote area of ocean 2,500 kilometers (1,550 miles) southwest of Australia, but the search was called off because of waves up to 4 meters (12 feet), high winds and heavy rain.
The suspension comes after a somber announcement late Monday by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak saying the plane had crashed in the sea, but which also left unanswered many troubling questions about why the Boeing 777, which was en route to Beijing on March 8 when it disappeared, was so far off-course.
It also unleashed a storm of sorrow and anger among the families of the jet’s 239 passengers and crew – two-thirds of them Chinese.
China responded Tuesday by demanding that Malaysia turn over the satellite data used to conclude that the jet had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean.