COLLAPSE: Families of passengers comfort each other after they hear the news that MH370 "ended" in southern Indian Ocean, as announced by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on March 24 (THE BEIJING NEWS)

"Our hearts have always been gripped by the safety of the passengers from different countries on board," said Chinese President Xi Jinping during a phone conversation with Abbott later that day. "Despite the increasing difficulties in current search and rescue due to the complicated circumstances in relevant waters, all-out efforts should be made as long as there is still a glimpse of hope."

In the following days, China, France, Thailand and Japan all subsequently released satellite images of possible wreckage related to MH370 in the same area. Six countries including Australia, China, the United State, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan have sent aircraft to the site. Unfortunately, efforts were hampered by poor weather.

Turning point

Frustrated family members of the missing passengers in Beijing set up instant messaging groups from day one to share updates, and more importantly, to help boost one another's morale. They also formed the MH370 family member committee to keep daily communication with representatives from Malaysia.

The idea of making a social media presence, according to their Weibo account's biography, is to "release real-time information and voices from the family members of the missing passengers." In less than a week, it comprised 27 posts, attracting over 146,000 followers.

"We pray for our loved ones, hope for their comeback and also reinforce our belief in their survival at 9:30 a.m. every day [which is 30 minutes before the first daily routine meeting with Malaysian representatives]." wrote one of the Weibo posts at 11:23 p.m. on March 23.

However, they received a SMS message from Malaysia Airlines on the next day, prior to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak's urgent announcement at 10 p.m.

"MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. We must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the southern Indian Ocean," the message read.

The prime minister said he was briefed by representatives from the British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB), who informed him that Inmarsat, the British company that provided the satellite data, had been performing further calculations on the data.

They had been able to shed more light on the missing plane's flight path by using "a type of analysis never before used in an investigation of this sort," he said. "Based on their new analysis, Inmarsat and the AAIB have concluded that MH370 flew along the southern corridor, and its last position was in the middle of the Indian Ocean, west of Perth."

The Chinese Government asked Malaysia to provide all information and evidence leading to that conclusion. President Xi, who was in The Hague for the Nuclear Security Summit, ordered a special envoy to be sent to Kuala Lumpur to consult with Malaysian authorities. Vice Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng made an urgent appointment to meet with Malaysian Ambassador to China Iskandar Sarudin on Najib Razak's announcement. Government officials also paid a visit to family members at Beijing Lido Hotel on March 25 to show support.