KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK): The wife and two daughters of a venture capital firm were on board the missing Malaysia Airline plane, reports said.

Modal Perdana Group chairman Datuk Mohamed Ramli Abbas's wife and children were on board the plane, Bernama reported.

Mohamed Ramli's sister-in-law, Salmy Hashim, said his wife, Datin Biby Nazli Mohd Hassim and daughters, Maria and Dina, had boarded the aircraft bound for Beijing.

Salmy, a part-time journalist with Bernama in Washington, told Bernama that accompanying Biby and her daughters on the trip were their sister, Noorida.