239 feared dead as Malaysia plane crashes off Vietnam coast
11:13, 2014/03/10
Vietnam and Malaysia are going to search for a Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 passengers and crew on board that went missing in the area off Vietnamese coast.
Rear Admiral Ngo Van Phat, political commissar of Vietnam’s Navy Region No5, said Malaysia announced the plane may have crashed into the adjacent waters between Vietnam and Malaysia, about 153 nautical miles off Tho Chu island of Kien Giang province.
He said all officers and staff of the Navy region are well prepared for search and rescue efforts. “We are ready to join Malaysia and Thailand forces to reach the area there the accident happened at the earliest time possible,” Phat said.
Vietnamese Minister of Transport Dinh La Thang said Vietnam has worked out emergency plans to help with search and rescue work with Malaysia and China if required.
Sources say Malaysian helicopters were dispatched in the morning, trying to search for the unlucky plane, but in vain.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also asked relevant agencies to start the emergency procedures, and prepare search and rescue efforts.
Vietnam joins search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane
Boeing 777-300 ER was reported to disappear at 02:40 local time on March 8 after leaving Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing. It was expected to land in Beijing at 06:30 the same day.
Among the passengers, 152 were Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 Indonesians, 7 Australians, 4 Americans, 3 French, 2 each from New Zealand, Ukraine, and Canada, and 1 each from Russia, Italy, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Austria.
The plane was said to lose contact with Malaysia’s air traffic control centre after departing from Kuala Lumpur.
The Vietnam Defence Ministry reported the plane had gone off the radar one minute before it entered Vietnam’s air traffic control area.
Its last known location was off the country's Ca Mau peninsular, and the crew did not have any contact with HCM City Flight Information Region centre.
The exact position of the plane was not clear.
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