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India deploys 4 warships to locate missing Malaysian plane

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Press Trust of India Kuala Lumpur/New Delhi
India today deployed four warships to locate the jetliner missing for six days as Malaysia debunked as false leads Chinese satellite images of suspected debris in waters off Vietnam's southern coast.

Joining the massive international search operations, India pressed into service six aircraft including its latest special surveillance P-8I plane and three helicopters under 'Operation Searchlight'.

The IAF has also deployed two of its latest C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft from Hindan air base.

Four warships have been dispatched from Andaman and Nicobar Command including INS Kumbhir, INS Kesari and INS Saryu from Navy and Coast Guard Ship Kanaklata Baruah to the areas specified by the Malaysian government.
 

Malaysia and Vietnam dismissed Chinese satellite images, saying planes sent to search the area where the debris were suspected found nothing.

"The Chinese satellite images were released by mistake," Malaysia's acting Transport Minister Hishamuddin Ahmed told a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.

He later said the Chinese Embassy had notified the government that the images were released by mistake and did not show any debris from Boeing 777 Flight H370.

The minister said unless any debris was found "we cannot think we have moved forward in the probe."

The Malaysian authorities also found no merit in US investigators suggestion that the flight MH370 with 239 people on board may have kept flying for four hours after its last radio contact on Saturday.

Ahmed said that reports that the flight MH370 flew beyond the last recorded transmission time of 0107 am local time on Saturday were totally "incorrect".

Rolls Royce and Boeing are cooperating and they did not receive any transmission after 0107 am local time on Saturday, he said. "That was the last transmission," Ahmed said.

China's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) said in Beijing that Chinese satellites found three floating objects at a suspected site of the missing plane but it was not sure whether it was the debris of the aircraft. The objects were observed in waters between Malaysia and Vietnam.

Ahmed admitted that with each passing day the search became more difficult.

He said the main search efforts were in South China Sea and noted, "We may have to include other countries as well if we have to expand our search later.

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First Published: Mar 13 2014 | 9:43 PM IST

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