Floating object not related to MH370: U.S. rescuers

March 09, 2014 | 21:18

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U.S. search and rescue forces have confirmed the floating object a Singapore search plane had detected on Sunday afternoon is not in any way connected to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that has gone missing since early Saturday, according to a U.S. defense chief based in Vietnam.

American rescuers have verified and dismissed the object floating 100km south-southwest of Vietnam’s Tho Chu Island as irrelevant to MH370, Jacky Ly Thang, a defense cooperation chief at the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi, said Sunday after Singaporean authorities notified Vietnam of the plane’s detection.

The Vietnamese Navy has dispatched a seaplane at 4:30 pm local time to the location of the suspicious object, according to Tuoi Trenewspaper which has had reporters accompany search and rescue operations.

The Singapore authorities told Vietnamese rescuers at 2:40 pm today that their search airplane had found a suspect object floating 100km south-southwest of Vietnam’s Tho Chu Island, Tuoi Tre said.

The Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 has been reported to crash 53 nautical miles (275km) off the island, which is located 85 nautical miles (153km) off Ca Mau – Vietnam’s southernmost province.

It was carrying 239 people, including 227 passengers and 12 crew when it disappeared on Saturday around 1:30 am Malaysian time (1730 GMT Friday), about one hour after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, AFP reported.

Vietnam and other Asian countries have mobilized many ships, choppers, and aircraft to conduct a search and rescue mission in an attempt to find the Malaysia Airlines jetliner.

But neither plane wreckage nor casualties have been reported so far.

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