The search for the Malaysian airliner that disappeared three years ago with 239 on board has been suspended, BBC reports.

In a statement, Australia, Malaysia and China said the decision was taken with "sadness" after a fruitless search in more than 120,000 sq km (46,300 miles) of the Indian Ocean.

Families of the victims called it an "irresponsible" move that must be reconsidered.

Flight MH370 vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in 2014.

So far only seven of the 20 pieces of recovered debris have been identified as definitely or highly likely to be from the Boeing 777