So when Paul left for a
mining job in Mongolia earlier this month, the couple took precautions,
Danica says. Paul couldn't wear his wedding ring on the mine site so he
left it, and his watch, at home with instructions to pass them on to his
two sons, "should anything happen" to him.
On his way to Mongolia, Paul traveled on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
As she speaks to CNN's
Piers Morgan on Thursday, Danica grips her husband's wedding ring while
fighting back tears. It's been five days since MH370 vanished, but with
little information about the plane's whereabouts the wait feels like an
eternity.
"That's the toughest part
every day -- waking up and looking on the news and seeing that there's
nothing; and there are no calls from Malaysia to say 'we've found
something,'" Weeks says.
"He was the most amazing husband and the most amazing father. He spent so much time with his kids," she says.
Approximately 5,000 miles
away, at a hotel near the Beijing Capital International Airport, Hu
Xianquan waits anxiously for news of her husband, Mao Tugui. The couple
last spoke on March 2 when Mao, a painter, was about to board a flight
to Malaysia to attend an exhibition of his work.
For Hu, like many
families of those on board Flight 370, grief is quickly turning to
frustration. There has been no word of her husband for days and
confusing reports about the search and rescue mission are only making
the wait more agonizing.
"No one really updates us," she says.
While many Chinese
relatives of passengers on board Flight 370 began traveling to Kuala
Lumpur on Tuesday, Hu and her daughter decided to stay in Beijing,
concerned that the language barrier would only make it more difficult to
understand what was happening.
Malaysia Airlines
offered to transfer Chinese and Indian relatives of missing passengers
to Kuala Lumpur for "better care and comfort," but some have declined.
Missing 370 passenger Huang Yi and her 5-year-old daughter
"I don't see the point
in going to Kuala Lumpur and seeing the same information," K. S.
Narendran tells CNN from India. His wife Chandrika Sharma was on the
flight. "It's better to stay in Chennai where I'm surrounded by family
and friends."
Sharma, the executive
secretary of the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers, had
been on her way to Mongolia for a conference of the UN's Food and
Agriculture Organization. Her husband says he's received little direct
assistance or information from authorities about the search operation
and relies on press conferences and news reports, but "that has thus far
amounted to nothing."
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak has appealed
to relatives to be patient. "The families involved have to understand
that this is something unexpected. The families must understand more
efforts have been made with all our capabilities," he said Wednesday.
More than half the
passengers on board Flight 370 were Chinese. Martial arts expert and
stunt man Ju Kun was among them. The 35-year-old, whose film credits
include "The Grandmaster" and "The Forbidden Kingdom," was set to begin
filming a new Netflix series "Marco Polo" in the coming weeks.
Netflix and its production partner The Weinstein Company said in a statement that they were deeply saddened by the news.
"Ju Kun, who was on
board, was an integral part of our production team and a tremendous
talent. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this difficult
time," the statement said.
Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi posted a tribute to Ju on her Weibo account: "He is a sincere, kind and hardworking man."
Like many of those on
board Flight 370, Ju's social media account has been flooded with
comments from strangers, many praying for his safe return.
Around the world,
communities have gathered to pray for the missing and offer comfort to
their loved ones. On Monday, Malaysians sang songs and lit paper
lanterns at a candlelight vigil in Kuala Lumpur.In nearby Petaling Jaya, members of the St. Francis Xavier Church have
been holding special prayer sessions for Patrick Francis Gomes, an
in-flight supervisor who was on board the flight.
"It's still difficult
for us to come to terms with what has happen. I can only say that my
father is a quiet person but also can be a joker," his daughter Nikki
Gomes told CNN.
"He is very dedicated to his job and took his responsibilities very seriously as all crew members would."
Malaysia Airlines will
retire flight codes MH370 and MH371 as a mark of respect to the
passengers and crew, the company said in a statement Thursday.
Many have turned to digital platforms to offer comforting words, and tribute sites have been created for the flight's captain and crew.
A Facebook profile
thought to be that of Pouria Nour Mohammadi, an 18-year-old Iranian who
used a stolen passport to board the plane, has scores of messages of
support from strangers.
"I don't know you but I
pray that you are safe somewhere in this world," writes one user. "May
you and the other passengers and crew on Malaysian flight 370, be found
safe and may your journey continue to find yourself safe in your mothers
[sic] arms again."
Back in China, Huang Lu,
a teacher at an elementary school in Guizhou province, waits for word
of her friend, Huang Yi. The 30-year-old works for the technology firm
Freescale in the company's Tianjin office. She was on the plane with 19
other colleagues when it disappeared.
The women have been friends since they were teenagers. "She's kind, lively and a good person to talk with," Huang Lu said.
The pair kept in touch
online. Yi, who has a five-year old daughter named Yuanyuan, would often
talk to Huang Lu about family and raising children.
"I've been waiting,
worried since I heard the news. I hope to see a miracle. Yi, please come
back, Yuanyuan needs you," she said.
Link to source: CNN.com
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