China satellite images show possible debris from missing Malaysian jet

PanARMENIAN.Net - Satellite images of possible debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have been released on a Chinese government website, BBC News reports.

The three images show what appear to be large, floating objects in the South China Sea. Previous sightings of possible debris have proved fruitless.

Vietnam and Malaysia have sent planes to the area to investigate.

The Beijing-bound plane took off from Kuala Lumpur early Saturday, March 8, vanishing about an hour later. No distress signal or message was sent from the plane, which had a total of 239 passengers and crew on board.

The images were taken on Sunday, a day after the plane disappeared, but were only released on Wednesday on the website of China's State Administration for Science.

China's civil aviation chief Li Jiaxiang said: "Chinese satellites have found smoke and floating objects... At present we cannot confirm this is related to the missing aircraft."

Vietnam's deputy transport minister said Vietnamese planes had already searched the area but would do so again.

Meanwhile, Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said aircraft had been dispatched to the area to investigate.

AFP quoted U.S. officials as saying that U.S. spy satellites had detected no sign of an explosion in the area at the time. The system has detected such heat signatures in the past but none was discovered this time, the officials said.

On Thursday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang urged Malaysia to step up the search.

"The Chinese government has asked the relevant party to enhance co-ordination, investigate the cause, locate the missing plane as quickly as possible and properly handle all related matters," he said.

China says it has deployed several warships, military aircraft and high-resolution satellites controlled from the Xian Satellite Control Centre in northern China to help search for the jet.

Earlier, Malaysian authorities revealed that the last communication from the jet suggested everything was normal on board.

Flight MH370 replied "All right, roger that" to a radio message from Malaysian air control, authorities said. Minutes later all contact with the plane was lost.

The area where the latest images were taken appears to be close to where the initial search took place.