Beijing court begins hearings for Chinese relatives of people on Malaysia Airlines plane

BEIJING (AP) — A Beijing court is holding compensation hearings for Chinese relatives of people who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 on a flight to Beijing. Security was tight around the Chinese capital’s main Chaoyang District Intermediary Court on Monday morning and no detailed information was immediately available. Various theories have emerged about the fate of the plane, including mechanical failure, a hijacking attempt, or a deliberate effort to scuttle it by those in the cockpit, but scant evidence has been found to show why the plane diverted from its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Among the passengers onboard, 153 or 154 by differing accounts were citizens of China.