PHU QUOC (Vietnam), March 13 – Aircraft and vessels sent out by Vietnam on Thursday have found no debris in the waters where Chinese satellites spotted three floating objects in the hunt for the missing Malaysian airlines flight, China’s Xinhua news agency reported, quoting Vietnamese Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu as saying on Thursday.
Vietnam authorities dispatched two aircraft and two ships to fly over the waters off the Vietnam’s southern coast where Chinese satellites photographed suspected floating objects, said Pham, who is leading a frontline command in Phu Quoc island.
In addition, four aircraft were sent by the Vietnam air force to search the land area in Vietnam’s southern part.
These comprises one seaplane and two An-26 aircraft that took off from Ho Chi Minh City and a Mi-171 helicopter from the Ca Mau Airport in southern Vietnam.
However, the land area searches across the province of Kien Giang, located in the Mekong Delta region of southern Vietnam, and U Minh Thuong national forest park yielded no clues, air force officials said.
Kien Giang is located about 250 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh while U Minh Thuong National Park or Upper U Minh National Park is located in the province of Kien Giang.
A huge international search operation has been mostly focused on the shallow waters of the Gulf of Thailand off Malaysia’s east coast. Vietnam has been searching off its eastern coast of Phu Quoc island as well as its western shoreline.
The Strait of Malacca has been included since Sunday but the search there has remained futile so far.
The search for the missing jet with 239 passengers and crew on board has now reached the sixth day with no signs of the plane’s whereabouts.
– BERNAMA
