China Releases Images of What Could Be Parts of Missing Plane
Debris from what could be Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is seen in this satellite image from China's State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense.
China has released satellite images of what could be parts of a missing Malaysia Airlines plane floating in the South China Sea.
Official Chinese media quote a government statement that says the satellite images were taken on Sunday -- one day after the Boeing 777 disappeared. The images were not released until Wednesday.
Expanded search areas in Strait of Malacca
They show three fairly large objects floating in the sea between Malaysia and the southern tip of Vietnam -- along what was the jet's original flight path. It is difficult to tell what the objects are, and no one else involved in the investigation has confirmed what the images show.
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 disappeared early Saturday on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Missing Malaysia Airlines plane
Two-hundred-39 people were on board.
The Chinese government statement conflicts with a report Tuesday that the Malaysian military has radar evidence that the jet flew hundreds of kilometer off course into the Malacca Strait.
Malaysian air traffic controllers did not receive any messages that the plane may have been in trouble and they say all communications were routine. Vietnamese controllers say they never heard from the pilots.
Earlier Wednesday, Malaysia again expanded the vast area where it is looking for the missing plane. Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said ships and aircraft from 12 countries are now searching more than 90,000 square kilometers of water.
No Trace Found of Missing Malaysia Airliner
1/14A Malaysian police official displays a photograph of 19-year-old Iranian Pouri Nourmohammadi, one of the two men who boarded missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight using stolen European passports.
2/14A Malaysian police woman holds up a picture of Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, an Iranian who boarded the now missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 with a stolen passport.
3/14This combination of images released by Interpol and displayed by Malaysian police in Sepang, Malaysia, on March 11, 2014, shows Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, (left) and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29, who allegedly boarded the now-missing Malaysia Airlines jet
4/14Military officer Duong Van Lanh works onboard a Vietnamese airforce AN-26 during a mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 off Tho Chu islands March 11, 2014.
5/14A Chinese relative of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane looks out as she waiting for the latest news inside a hotel room for relatives or friends of passengers aboard the missing airplane in Beijing, China, March 11, 2014.
6/14Family members comfort Chrisman Siregar, left, and his wife Herlina Panjaitan, the parents of Firman Siregar, one of the Indonesian citizens registered on the manifest of the Malaysia Airlines jetliner flight MH370 that went missing, Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia, March 9, 2014.
7/14Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation's Director General Azharuddin Abdul Rahman briefs reporters at a press conference on search and recovery efforts within existing and new areas for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane,Sepang, Malaysia, March 10, 2014.
8/14A family member of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane wipes her tears at a hotel in Putrajaya, Malaysia, March 10, 2014.
9/14Chinese relatives of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane wait for the latest news inside a hotel room, Beijing, China, March 10, 2014.
10/14CEO of Malaysia Airlines Ignatius Ong, center, gestures as he prepares to speak to the media near a hotel room for relatives or friends of passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines airplane, Beijing, China, March 10, 2014.
11/14People hold a banner and candles during a candlelight vigil for passengers aboard a missing Malaysia Airlines plane in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 10, 2014.
12/14Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation director general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, second from left, speaks during a press conference at a hotel in Sepang, Malaysia, March 10, 2014.
13/14Italian Luigi Maraldi, left, whose stolen passport was used by a passenger boarding a missing Malaysian airliner, shows his passport as he reports himself to Thai police Lt. Gen. Panya Mamen, right, at Phuket police station in Phuket province, southern Thailand, March 9, 2014.
14/14A U.S. Navy helicopter lands aboard Destroyer USS Pinckney during a crew swap before returning to a search and rescue mission for the missing Malaysian airlines flight MH370 in the Gulf of Thailand, March 9, 2014.
The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.
