Photo: Vietnam news portal VN Express was one of first to report possible debris sighting; Yahoo! Singapore
Possible debris from vanished Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was found in the sea off Vietnam by a search team Sunday, a senior official said.
It was the first time that authorities had given any positive indication that traces of the Boeing 777, which disappeared in the early hours of Saturday carrying 239 people, may have been discovered.
“We received information from a Vietnamese plane saying that they found two broken objects, which seem like those of an aircraft, located about 50 miles to the south-west of Tho Chu Island,” said the senior from official from the National Committee for Search and Rescue, who did not want to be named.
“As it is night they cannot fish them out for proper identification. They have located the position of the areas and flown back to the land,” he added.
Planes and boats would be sent back to the area Monday to investigate further, he said.
Tho Chu island is part of a small archipelago off the south-western tip of Vietnam which belongs to the communist country.
Two large oil slicks which authorities suspect were caused by jet fuel were detected late Saturday further south off the island chain.
Story: AFP
