Malaysian jet crashed in sea; China sends vessels in crash site
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 had crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean.
The plane vanished on March 8 while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur with 239 people on board. All 239 people on board were presumed dead, airline officials said on March 24.
Citing satellite-data analysis by the British company Inmarsat , Malaysia said that a missing jetliner had crashed into the Indian Ocean. The Inmarsat data showed the Boeing 777’s last position was in the Indian Ocean west of Perth, Australia, Najib said in a statement.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib’s announcement opens the way for what could be one of the most costly and challenging air crash investigations in history.
Flight MH370 vanished from civilian radar screens less than an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8.
According to Xinhua news agency, China has demanded Malaysia to provide satellite data which led to its judgement that flight MH370 ended in the Indian Ocean quoting Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Hangsheng in Beijing.
Xie urged Malaysia to continue all the relevant work including search and rescue for the missing plane, which carried 239 people.
Chinese maritime authorities said China will send more vessels to the waters of the southern Indian Ocean to search and salvage wreckage of Malaysia Airline MH370. China has already sent some six vessels to the area where two Chinese IL-76 aircraft are scouring the rough seas for the missing plane that carried 154 Chinese passengers. – Agencies
March 24,2014
