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Search teams scour Malaysian peninsula, Malacca Strait, N. Sumatra

2014-03-12 15:50 CNTV Web Editor: Li Yan
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Cabin crew of Vietnam Air Force's AN26 aircraft waits at a base near Tan Son Nhat airport, Hochiminh city before a search operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

Cabin crew of Vietnam Air Force's AN26 aircraft waits at a base near Tan Son Nhat airport, Hochiminh city before a search operation for the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam Tuesday, March 11, 2014.

The search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared on Saturday continues. Flight MH370 was carrying 239 passengers, including 154 Chinese nationals to Beijing, when it mysteriously vanished, just under an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. Five days into the search for the missing plane, there's still no trace of any wreckage.   [Special coverage]

11 countries are taking part in a coordinated operation. Vietnam has today said it will "pause" its air search efforts until its given further information about the plane by Malaysia.

The search was initially focused on waters off the Vietnamese coast. But it's now been expanded to cover a 185 kilometer radius, including the Malaysian peninsula, the Strait of Malacca and an area north of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Meanwhile, China says it will send two more planes to assist with the mission.

On Thursday, the Malaysian Military said it had evidence that the plane changed course and headed west. The reports said the plane was tracked over the Strait of Malacca, far from where it last made contact with civil air traffic controllers. But Malaysia's air force chief has now denied making any such statement. The contradictions have increased concern over the ability of Malaysia to oversea the search operation, especially on the release of new information.

Meanwhile, Interpol says it's now less likely that the plane was hit by a terror attack. Two Iranian men used stolen passports to board the plane, but it's thought they had no links to terror groups. The director of the CIA says terrorism has still not been ruled out.

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