Vietnam has intensified its search for the Malaysia Airlinesjetliner that has been missing since early Saturday, with ground forces joining the effort in the southern part of the country while the search over water expands further to the north.
The search area for the missing flight MH370 had earlier been widened across the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam after three days of fruitless air and sea searches involving vessels from several countries.
“All forces in the provinces in southern Vietnam has been informed, including (those involved in) search and rescue, and flood and storm prevention to increase their surveillance in the mainland areas,” Doan Huu Gia, head of the search and rescue coordination center of Vietnam’s Civil Aviation Authority told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The center is coordinating all of Vietnam’s search efforts for the missing plane.
The Boeing 777-200 aircraft, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members, disappeared from radar in the early hours of Saturday over Malaysian and Vietnamese airspace less than an hour after takeoff on a flight to Beijing, prompting search efforts to be focused in the waters near both countries.
Meanwhile, Malaysian authorities are also searching in the waters on the other side of the Malaysian peninsula, to the west, because officials said Malaysian military radar indicated the plane may have tried to turn around.
“The authorities are looking at a possibility of an attempt made by (flight) MH370 to turn back to Subang. All angles are being looked at. We are not ruling out any possibilities,” Malaysia Airlines said in a statement Tuesday.