Beijing Community Waits Anxiously as Search for Malaysia Airlines Continues for Fifth Day

Beijing's foreign community continues to wait anxiously for news of Malaysia Airlines MH370, which remains missing after losing contact with air traffic control in the small hours of Saturday morning. The majority of the missing are Chinese citizens, many from Beijing, along with a number of foreign Beijing residents and former residents on board.

"As we enter into Day 4, the aircraft is yet to be found," Malaysia Airlines announced at its press conference Tuesday morning.

Among the missing Beijing residents, based on the official passenger list published by Malaysia Airlines, are:

Bai Xiaomo and Muktesh Mukherjee. The only Canadians aboard MH370, the couple are traveling without their two children, who attend a Beijing international school. The couple met in Beijing, moved to Montreal, and then later returned to Beijing, according to CBC News. Friends and neighbors of the couple contacted by the Beijinger declined to comment, given the continued unknown status of the flight.

Laurence Wattrelos, Ambre Wattrelos, Hadrien Wattrelos, and Zhao Yan. All four are the only French citizens aboard the flight. Mother Laurence is active in the parent-teacher association of the Lycee Francais International de Pekin, also known as the French School, where Ambre, Hadrien, and family friend Zhao Yan are all enrolled, according to The Wall Street Journal.

American Philip Wood was making a final trip to Beijing, as part of completing a move away from China to Kuala Lumpur, working for IBM, according to the New York Daily News. He had just been back in the United States on a home visit in Texas.

239 passengers and crew, 152 of whom are from China and Taiwan, remain missing. A full list of non-Chinese passengers categorized by nationality is here. A full list of passengers including Chinese names can be found here.

Photo: Daily Telegraph