Search for MH370 shifted to tiny island in Maldives

The search for the missing Malaysian airlines flight has shifted to a tiny Indian Ocean island in the Maldives while aviation security officials on Wednesday insisted no clues have been found so far. [Special coverage]

Aviation Security Command head Colonel Mohamed Ziyad confirmed that the Maldivian National Defense Force (MNDF), in monitoring the areas of the Maldivian territory, is conducting its surveillance with a heightened level of vigilance, in connection to the disappearance of the Malaysian Airline MH 370.

"None of the military radars in the country has detected a trace of the missing plane. Furthermore, no trace of the MH370 Airline has been found from the data scrutinized thus far from radars stationed at the airports in the Maldives," he said.

Maldives police has launched an investigation into reports that residents of the remote Maldives island of Kuda Huvadhoo in Dhaal Atoll have seen a "low flying jumbo jet" on the morning of the disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

[Related story: Maldives probes reported witnessing of missing MH370]

Several residents of Kuda Huvadhoo had told local media Tuesday that they saw a "low flying jumbo jet" at around 6:15 a.m. on March 8 local time.

They said that it was a white aircraft, with red stripes across it -- which is what the Malaysia Airlines flights typically look like.

Eyewitnesses from the Kuda Huvadhoo concurred that the airplane was traveling North to South-East, towards the Southern tip of the Maldives -- Addu. They also noted the incredibly loud noise that the flight made when it flew over the island.

Earlier reports indicated that Maldives neighbor, Sri Lanka, had opened up its air space on a request by the Malaysian government to search for the missing plane.

Planes from Malaysia, the US, New Zealand and Australia had flown over the island for several days but no sign of the flight was seen. About 26 countries are currently searching for the missing jet.