Holding out hope against hope, the families of the missing passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 are struggling every day to hear new information. Just trying to be optimistic is itself a daily battle. And now they've reportedly been kicked out of their hotel to make way for the Ferrari Formula One team.
The Malaysian Grand Prix starts March 30th, and with each big race comes a massive amount of personnel from each team just to make sure the cars make the starting grid. Ferrari is no exception. Having booked their hotel a long time in advance, they needed to make sure every member of their team was properly housed.
Unfortunately, the housing they chose so long ago was also the hotel where many of the distraught family members of the unaccounted for passengers were residing. Around a dozen or so family members have been relocated to another hotel in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, but even still, it's another heartbreaking moment in a long three weeks of heartbreaking moments.
Via NBC:
Ecclestone said teams made their own travel arrangements and that the decision to move other guests would have been a matter for the hotel.
The Ferrari team, based in Maranello, northern Italy, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Eccelstone expressed sympathy for the families and said the hotel would have faced a difficult decision.
I don't think Ferrari is 100% at fault here, considering how many people they're responsible for and how far in advance the rooms were probably booked. Even still, such a horrible situation is not able to stop Muppet Jerk Bernie Ecclestone from being Muppet Jerk Bernie Ecclestone:
"I feel terribly, terribly sorry for these people," he said. "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."
Bernie's right. The hotel could get sued. And what's more important, grieving families waiting for any small word on the fate of their loved ones, or a lawsuit with a potential financial settlement?
(Bernie's not right.)
I'm sure that lawsuit would go over really well, for Ferrari, in the court of public opinion.
Photo via Getty Images