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PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia. — Director General of Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said yesterday that the Malaysian government officially declared MH370 an accident, and all 239 people on board the plane were presumed dead more than 10 months after the plane disappeared.

“It is therefore, with the heaviest heart and deepest sorrow that, on behalf of the government of Malaysia, we officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident . . . and that all 239 of the passengers and crew on board MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives,” Azharuddin said in a statement.

After 327 days (as of January 28, 2015) and based on all available data as well as circumstances mentioned earlier, survivability in the defined area where the plane was located was highly unlikely, the statement said.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft with 239 people aboard, disappeared on March 8 last year shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en-route to Beijing.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has announced the ill- fated plane had “ended in the southern Indian Ocean,” following analysis of data released by British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat. —Xinhua.