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Grieving Families Booted From Hotel for Formula One Grand Prix

More than a dozen Chinese family members were switched to another hotel because of bookings tied to the upcoming race.
Sebastian Vettel of Infiniti Red Bull Racing during  Round 2 at Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 23.
Sebastian Vettel of Infiniti Red Bull Racing during Round 2 at Sepang International Circuit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on March 23.Mirko Stange / DPA via AP file

Anxious relatives of passengers on board missing Malaysia Airlines Fight 370 were forced to move out of their hotel Friday to make way for Formula One bookings tied to the upcoming Grand Prix.

Tens of thousands of drivers, promoters and fans are expected in the capital Kuala Lumpur over the coming days as it gears up for the race on March 30.

More than a dozen Chinese family members, who traveled from China to Kuala Lumpur to get updates on the search for the Boeing 777, were transferred to another hotel in the city on Friday by Malaysia Airlines.

The relatives were taken by bus from the Cyberview Hotel in the Putrahata district, near the airport, to the Bangi-Putrajaya Hotel. Reporters who witnessed the transfer were prevented by hotel employees from interviewing the group, the New Straits Times reported.

A manager at the Cyberview said entire hotel had been booked out.

Nobody at Formula One's governing body, the Paris-based Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or at Formula One Management in London responded immediately to a request for comment.

Investigators are also having to move from the Sama Sama hotel, which had become the unofficial headquarters for officials and media attending the daily press conferences. "We will be moving out of here because the F1 race is going to go on," Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said, according to Reuters.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Alastair Jamieson and John Boxley
Image: MALAYSIA-CHINA-VIETNAM-MALAYSIAAIRLINES-TRANSPORT-ACCIDENT
Chinese relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are transported from the Cyberview resort on a bus in Cyberjaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, on Friday.MOHD RASFAN / AFP - Getty Images