Search for missing Flight MH370: 300 more objects floating in Indian Ocean could be wreckage

 
More debris: Satellite images show objects floating in the Indian Ocean
AFP/Getty Images
Kiran Randhawa27 March 2014

New images today revealed 300 more floating objects in the southern Indian Ocean which could be linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines jet.

Satellites from Thailand have spotted the debris up to 49ft metres in size scattered over an area about 1,675 kilometres southwest of Perth.

It comes as today’s hunt for the wreckage was suspended due to heavy rain, high winds and low clouds.

Eight planes reached the zone this morning but faced zero visibility and returned to base. Ships scouring the area for the debris remained in the area and attempted to continue the search.

Thailand’s space technology development agency said the images showed “300 objects of various sizes” about 125 miles from the area where a French satellite spotted 122 objects.

Agency director Anond Snidvongs said the images were taken by the Thaichote satellite on Monday, took two days to process and were relayed to Malaysian authorities yesterday.

So far not a single item of debris linked to the missing plane has been recovered, despite several sightings from planes and from satellite images.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said that aircraft had spotted three objects yesterday but despite several passes had not been able to relocate them.

Malaysia announced earlier this week that a mathematical analysis of the final known satellite signals from the plane showed that it had crashed in the sea, taking the lives of all 239 people on board.

The plane vanished on March 8 as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

A spokesman for Amsa said eight of the 11 planes looking for the wreckage had reached the search zone and looked for about two hours before the suspension.

He said: “They got a bit of time in, but it was not useful because there was no visibility.”

It is the second this week that the search has been called off due to poor conditions.

Five ships, Australia’s HMAS Success and four Chinese ships, Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon and Qiandaohu, are in the vicinity helping with the search.

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