Relatives of MH370 passengers forced to switch hotel as F1 arrives in Kuala Lumpur (Update)

UPDATE It's a bit of a tedious situation this year. The Cyberview Hotel that Ferrari is staying at for the grand prix next weekend is also the hotel that has been hosting the families of people on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the plane that has been missing for over two weeks.

According to NBC, more than a dozen Chinese family members of passengers on the flight were forced to switch hotels Friday because of Ferrari's arrival.

F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone said he felt sorry for the family members forced to move because of Ferrari's bookings.

"I feel terribly, terribly sorry for these people," he told NBC. "But it is up to the hotel. What would happen if you told somebody that they no longer had a booking? You would get sued, I’d imagine."

“If you have a booking at a hotel, what are you supposed to do?"

It's a double-edged sword for sure, but let's be realistic for a moment. Wouldn't it have been possible to make arrangements for the "more than a dozen" affected?

We're not talking an exorbitant amount of hotel rooms here. Cyberview likely has connections and you could probably find some members of Ferrari's team who would be willing to stay at a nearby hotel so that the families could stay put. (Ferrari declined comment, according to NBC)

It's a tragic situation that looks less and less likely to have a happy ending after each passing day as an extensive search has found no conclusive results so far. It's a bit more important than a grand prix.

Yes, Ferrari booked the rooms far in advance and they have a right to them. There's no disputing that. But the good public relations move in this case would be to let those who are waiting for news stay put and for a team with vast resources to make other arrangements for some team members.

03/22/14 Relatives of the passengers on the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have been moved out of a hotel in Kuala Lumpur in order to make way for the arrival of Formula 1 fans and personnel for next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 00:41 local time on Saturday 8th March with 239 passengers on board. However, it disappeared from all tracking devices whilst en route to Beijing, with its last known position being in the Malacca Straits.

Since then, no trace of the aircraft has been found, and a wide-reaching search has ensued, encompassing all areas within seven hours of the aircraft’s last known position.

A number of Chinese families arrived in Kuala Lumpur in order to receive updates regarding the search, and were staying in the Cyberview Hotel. However, due to the hotel being fully booked as a result of the Malaysian Grand Prix, they have now been moved by Malaysia Airlines to another residence.

The families were taken by bus to the Bangi-Putrajaya Hotel in order to accommodate the incoming guests at the Cyberview Hotel.

Speaking to Reuters, transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said: “We will be moving out of here because the F1 race is going to go on."