This image provided by China＇s State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense shows a floating object seen at sea next to the descriptor which was added by the source.
Malaysia＇s defense minister says a Chinese satellite has spotted a large object floating in the Indian Ocean southwest of Australia where officials hope to find a Malaysia Airlines plane that has been missing for more than two weeks.
"Chinese ships have been dispatched to the area. Beijing is expected to make an announcement in a few hours,＇＇ Malaysian Defence Minister and acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters.
He said Saturday that he had been informed that a Chinese satellite had spotted an object 22.5 meters (74 feet) by 13 meters (42 feet).
However, he said there was still no confirmation that debris detected by a satellite in the Indian Ocean several days ago was from a missing Malaysia Airlines plane.
Hishammuddin said Saturday that his biggest concern was that if the debris was not found and identified, the search would have to go back to the two corridors in a "huge and massive area."
Earlier Saturday, Australia dispatched search planes for a third consecutive day to search the remote southern Indian Ocean for debris possibly from the Boeing 777, now lost for two full weeks.
The international team hunting for the plane returned Saturday to an area about 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth where an Australian satellite spotted two large objects earlier in the week.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters the search will continue until officials determine that further efforts would be futile.
The searches have come up with no sign of wreckage in the area. Australia has cautioned that the objects might have no connection to the plane carrying 239 passengers and crew.
Hishammuddin asked the U.S. Defense Department Friday for underwater surveillance equipment to help with the search.
A Pentagon spokesman did not say what equipment the U.S. might provide, but that Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is considering the request and whether it would be helpful in looking for the aircraft.
The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared two weeks ago during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. There has been no firm evidence, so far, of what happened to the jet.
Investigators are not ruling out anything, including catastrophic mechanical failure, terrorism or pilot suicide. They say it is possible that someone with knowledge of planes diverted it far off course.
Twenty-six nations have been hunting for the plane across an area covering more than 7 million square kilometers, from Kazakhstan to the southern Indian Ocean. |
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