Relatives receive text: passengers lost

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib issues a statement saying that the flight crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean and everyone on board must be presumed dead. Family members not at Najib’s press conference receive a text message from the airline:

Malaysia Airlines deeply regrets that we have to assume beyond any reasonable doubt that MH370 has been lost and that none of those on board survived. [W]e must now accept all evidence suggests the plane went down in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The airline issues a subsequent statement defending its use of text messages and saying it has tremendous respect for the family members.

Statement from Malaysia Airlines RE: communication with #MH370 families. Full: http://t.co/g02eUWdxrS pic.twitter.com/h666k5vdOk

— Matt Young (@MattYoung) March 24, 2014