Last night, Beijing's airport lost contact with a Malaysian Airlines passenger flight carrying 239 people. The flight took off from Kuala Lumpur and was headed for Beijing. China's state-run news agency announced that it lost contact with the flight off the coast with Vietnam. It is unknown why the flight crashed.
The navies of Vietnam and China have both sent ships to the South China Sea in search of wreckage. The Vietnamese Air Force has found two oil slicks which are believed to belong to the flight. The Vietnamese Navy speculated, according to Vietnam's state-run media, that the flight has crashed into
the ocean 153 miles south of Phu Quoc Island. However, the slicks were later determined to not belong to the aircraft. To assist in this endeavor of finding the plane, the United States has sent the USS Pinckney, the USS Kidd, and an aircraft. The search for the aircraft is into its third day, as crews from multiple nations work to recover the wreckage.
The flight carried passengers from China (152), Malaysia (38), Indonesia (7), Australia (6), India (5), the United States (3), France, New Zealand, Canada, Ukraine, Russia, Italy, Taiwan, the Netherlands and Austria. At least two (possibly four) passengers boarded the planes using stolen passports, raising questions about a possible hijacking, but at this point these questions are pure speculation. Officials say that they are exploring "every angle" in their search for the aircraft.
No comments:
Post a Comment