Twenty of the 227 passengers on the missing Malaysian Airlines aircraft were employees of a US high tech firm, Freescale Semiconductor, based in Austin, Texas, the firm said Saturday.
The employees — 12 from Malaysia and eight from China — were on board the plane that vanished on its journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early Saturday.
“The entire Freescale Semiconductor community is deeply saddened by this news,” the company said in the statement.
President Gregg Lowe said: “At present, we are solely focused on our employees and their families. Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this tragic event.”