Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, with 239 people on board, disappeared on 8 March about an hour into a journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in the world's greatest aviation mystery. Six months on, the loved ones of the mostly Chinese passengers derive what comfort they can going forward from what's left behind.
One woman says she can't go out without taking her missing sister's handbag with her. Another agonises over the fact that the last phone call she had with her missing husband was an argument. His tea cup stays put on a desk, now covered in dust.
Reuters photographer Kim Kyung-Hoon documented the grief and desperate hopes of some of the relatives of the missing passengers.
Zhang Yongli, whose daughter Zhang Qi was on the plane that disappeared on March 8, 2014, holds his daughter's toysReutersZhang Yongli, whose daughter Zhang Qi was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, shows a poem he wrote for her. Zhang said the worry is disrupting his and his wife's lives. His wife sometimes roams several kilometres far from home because she cannot stand being in the house without their daughterReutersZhiliang, whose fiancee was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, sits in the empty house which they had planned to decorate together. They had planned to marry this yearReutersZhiliang shows an image on his mobile phone, which his fiancee chose as a reference for decorating their newly purchased house. Zhiliang said he will wait for her foreverReutersLi Zhen, whose husband was on the flight, holds her cat Zhang Xiaomi at the desk that her husband used. Li said her only wish now is that her husband comes home alive no matter how much he has changedReutersA tea cup used by Li Zhen gathers dust on his desk. Li's wife Liu said she regrets arguing with her husband in their last phone call, not realising this would be their final conversationReutersLiu, whose husband Lu was onboard the Malaysia Airlines plane, shows the final message she received from him. They got married on the first of March, a week before the incident and could not go on a honeymoon because of her husband's busy scheduleReutersLiu shows a room which she and her new husband had prepared for their future childrenReutersLi, whose son Wen Yongsheng disappeared on March 8, 2014, shows the medication she and her husband take every day. Li and her husband, who come from Shandong province, now stay in a small shabby hotel room in Beijing in the hope of finding more accurate information about the incident. They said the worry makes their health worse and they have to go to hospital every dayReutersHu, whose son Zhao's whole family was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, said she had thought of committing suicide. She could not go back home for a while after the incident because she was afraid of entering the empty house which had once been full of her three-year-old granddaughter's lovely smiles and laughterReutersHu, whose son Zhao's whole family was on the missing plane, shows her granddaughter's dolls. Hu said she had thought of committing suicide after the incidentReutersFeng Xuehong cries as she shows a picture of her son Wang Houbin on her mobile phone. In the last conversation with her son he said, "Give me a hug, mom. Take care of yourself and I'll come back to see you soon."ReutersDai Shuqin's bag, which was a gift from her missing younger sister, is hung on a wall. Dai's sister's whole family was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Dai said she cannot go out without the bag these days because it makes her feel her sister is by her sideReutersCheng Liping shows a family photo featuring her missing husband. Their two sons, who don't know about the missing plane, keep asking her when their dad is coming backReutersCheng Liping shows a picture of her and her husband together and a card with a message given to her by her husband, in a park near her house which she and her husband used to visitReuters
