Male, March 19 — Maldives police have launched an investigation into reports residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll saw a low flying jumbo jet on the morning of the disappearance of Malaysia
Airlines flight MH370.
However, police did not reveal any further details, Xinhua news agency reported. Aviation Security Command head Colonel Mohamed Ziyad quoted the residents of Kuda Huvadhoo as telling local media on Tuesday they saw the jumbo jet at around 6:15 a.m. on March 8.
The residents said the jet was “a white aircraft with red stripes across it, which is what Malaysia Airlines planes typically look like.”
Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred the plane was travelling North to South-East towards the Southern tip of the Maldives Addu. They also noted the “incredibly loud noise the plane made” when it flew over
the island.
Earlier reports indicated that Maldives neighbour, Sri Lanka, had opened up its air space on request by the Malaysian government to search for the missing plane.
Aircraft from Malaysia, the United States, New Zealand and Australia had flown over the island for several days but no sign of the missing jet was seen.
Twenty-six countries are currently searching for the Boeing 777-200ER which had 239 passengers and crew on board.
–BERNAMA
