'No one has survived': Relatives distraught as Malaysia Airlines says jet crashed in Indian Ocean

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Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which has been missing for 16 days, is presumed to have crashed in the Indian Ocean killing all 239 people on board, relatives were told last night after new information came to light about the plane's last known location. In a grim message Prime Minister Najib Razak said investigators at the UK's Air Accident Investigation Branch had concluded the plane flew along the southern corridor and that its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean thousands of kilometres west of Perth.

"This is a remote location, far from any possible landing sites. It is therefore with deep sadness and regret that I must inform you that according to this new data, flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean," he said.

The tragic news shed no light on how the plane came to be so far from its intended route, from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. As the news was relayed there was disbelief among relatives of those on board who had been summoned to meetings at hotels in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur.

"Malaysia is lying. Make China go down there and look," one relative told the South China Morning Post by text message just minutes after the announcement.

Another said: " If they don't show us the actual plane itself then it doesn't mean anything." The statement came after Chinese relatives in Beijing were called to the second floor of the Lido Hotel for an emergency meeting. Paramedics attended the scene and screaming was heard coming from behind closed doors. One middle-aged woman was carried out of the room on a stretcher. Her mouth was trembling and her eyes wide open. It is believed that relatives in Kuala Lumpur were flown to Perth overnight. In a statement to the families of those with relatives on board, the airline said: "We deeply regret that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board have survived...we must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean." In a later statement addressing why families had received news of the plane's fate by text message, the airline said: "It is with deep sadness Malaysia Airlines earlier this evening had to confirm to the families... that it must now be assumed the flight had been lost.

"As the Prime Minister said, respect for the families is essential at this difficult time.

"And it is in that spirit that we informed the majority of the families in advance of the Prime Minister's statement in person and by telephone.

"SMSs were used only as an additional means of communicating with the families."

China's foreign ministry demanded Malaysia substantiate its conclusion by providing all the information and evidence that the plane had crashed into the sea. The extraordinary turn of events came in a day where two separate search teams said they had spotted "objects" floating in the Indian Ocean.

A Chinese team was reported to have seen two large white floating objects, while Australia said a plane crew had seen two items - one grey or green and circular, and the other orange and rectangular.

Ships rushed to the location to hunt for the possible plane debris, while Malaysia said it understood some items would be recovered by the morning.

Malaysian authorities have been widely criticised for their handling of the two-week hunt for MH370, with accusations of incompetence, cover-ups and U-turns.