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Latest Search for Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 to End Next Week


FILE - Civil Aviation Malaysia's Director-General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Ocean Infinity's CEO Oliver Plunkett exchange documents during the MH370 search operations signing ceremony between Malaysia's government and Ocean Infinity, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Jan. 10, 2018.
FILE - Civil Aviation Malaysia's Director-General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman and Ocean Infinity's CEO Oliver Plunkett exchange documents during the MH370 search operations signing ceremony between Malaysia's government and Ocean Infinity, in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Jan. 10, 2018.

The latest search for the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 will end next week, keeping alive one of the world's biggest aviation mysteries.

U.S.- based Ocean Infinity agreed with the Malaysian government in January to launch a 90-day hunt for the plane, which vanished on March 8, 2014 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing carrying 239 passengers and crew. Transport Minister Anthony Loke told reporters Wednesday the search had been extended to May 29.

A three-year joint search by Australia, China and Malaysia was called off in January 2017 after scouring a 120,000-square kilometer area of the Indian Ocean. Ocean Infinity struck a deal to search an additional 25,000-square kilometers north of the original search area. The company stood to earn as much as $70 million — but only if the jet or its black boxes were discovered.

FILE - French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, July 29, 2015.
FILE - French gendarmes and police inspect a large piece of plane debris which was found on the beach in Saint-Andre, on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion, July 29, 2015.

The only traces of MH370 found have been three separate pieces that washed ashore at various points along the Indian Ocean.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad earlier said the Malaysian government would review the agreement as part of a move to cut government spending.

Voice 370, a group that represents the relatives of those aboard the flight, have called on the government to review all matters related to the mystery, including "any possible falsification or elimination" of maintenance records.

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