KUALA LUMPUR: Putrajaya has spent more than RM33 million on 3,000 rescuers in the search and rescue efforts for Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flights MH370, which disappeared in March, and MH17, which was shot down over Ukraine in July.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said a total of RM33.46 million was spent on searching for the two ill-fated planes and the people aboard.

“An estimated 3,732 civil officers were involved in the search and rescue efforts,” he told Ng Wei Aik (DAP-Tanjong) in a brief parliamentary written reply.

He added each of the respective countries shouldered the operational cost of the search and rescue exercise.

MAS lost flight MH370 in mysterious circumstances on March 8 when the aircraft carrying 239 people disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

On July 17, flight MH17 from Amsterdam was shot down over Ukrainian airspace, killing all 298 people on board.

The twin disasters saw the cash-strapped national carrier slipping further into the red. It recorded a net loss of RM307 million for the second quarter, bringing the total loss for the first six months of this year to RM750 million.  — The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 14, 2014.