25 countries search for ‘mystery’ Malaysian plane

Malaysia said on Sunday the
number of countries involved in efforts to find a
missing passenger jet had nearly doubled to 25 as it
began a new push to find the plane across a vast
arc of land and ocean.
“The number of countries involved in the search
and rescue operation has increased from 14 to 25,
which brings new challenges of coordination and
diplomacy to the search effort,” said Hishammuddin
Hussein, Malaysia’s defence and transport minister.
Malaysia had said Saturday satellite data showed
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 could have flown
anywhere from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian
Ocean after disappearing from civilian radar on
March 8.
Hishammuddin told a press conference that
Malaysia, which is coordinating the hunt, had
briefed representatives from at least 22 countries
today and requested their help in a search that has
become increasingly daunting.
This includes potentially sensitive military and
satellite data from the likes of the United States,
China and France.
Asked if any search for an aircraft in such a vast
area could be effective, Hishammuddin
acknowledged the size of the task.
“It is our hope that parties that can be of assistance
to us can come forward and help us to narrow the
search to an area that is much more feasible,” he
said.
Malaysian police also said it was seeking
background checks on all passengers from foreign
counterparts and intelligence agencies as it ramps
up investigations into who may have deliberately
diverted the Boeing 777 from its original course to
Beijing.
Police on Saturday searched the homes of both
pilots and seized Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah’s
self-assembled flight simulator.(AFP)