Orange object not MH370 life raft: Vietnam aviation authority

March 10, 2014 | 19:02

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Vietnamese navy boat HQ 637 has salvaged a floating objectnear the purported crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane but found out it is not a life-raft as earlier suspected, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam.

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At the notice and request by the Malaysian side, Vietnamese rescuers retrieved the object about 130km, not 177km as previously reported, southwest of southern Vietnam’s Tho Chu Island at 3:20 p.m. on March 10.

The object has been identified as the moss-covered cap of a cable reel, CCAV said Monday afternoon.

According to an earlier report, a Singapore aircraft spotted the orange object at 10:20 am today, appearing to be an airplane life raft or life vest, in the waters believed to be the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that vanished on the weekend.

Search and rescue teams could not verify it immediately because of its tiny size seen from the sky and bad weather conditions.

MH370 has gone missing since Saturday when it was carrying 239 people from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

It 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.

But authorities have yet to confirm any crash, only saying MH370 has disappeared for more than two days.

Tuoi Tre

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