Oil slicks found near site of crashed Malaysia Airlines plane

March 09, 2014 | 11:09

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A Vietnamese plane has discovered two oil slicks 150 km from Tho Chu Island, near the site where the Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane crashed this morning (local time).

>> VN sends forces to search crashed Malaysia Airlines plane
During the search for the Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane that crashed off Vietnam’s Tho Chu Islands this morning (local time), a Vietnamese plane has discovered two oil slicks near the site of its crash.

At 4:26 pm Saturday (Vietnam time), an AN 26 plane found an oil patch at 7.55 degrees latitude north and 103.18 degrees longitude east.

An hour later, the plane discovered another oil spill about 150 km from Tho Chu Island.
The plane later left the area as it was getting dark, causing difficulties to the search.

Meanwhile, three Vietnamese vessels, including a naval ship, a coast guard boat and a rescue boat, were sailing to the site of crash.

Deputy Minister of Transport Pham Quy Tieu has been directing the search for the Malaysian plane.

The search and rescue agencies of both Singapore and Malaysia said they have found no signs of the crashed plane so far.

The Vietnamese authorities have informed both Singapore and Malaysia of the oil spills for verification.

The flight MH370 disappeared at 1:40 am local time (1840 GMT Friday), about two hours after it left Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The plane was carrying 239 people from 14 countries and territories to Beijing, China when it crashed.

No casualties have been reported so far.

Lai Xuan Thanh, head of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said that it is an abnormal phenomenon that the Malaysian plane had not automatically sent its signals to satellites.

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