Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Malaysia investigating identities of four passengers in possible terrorist link

Updated

Malaysian investigators are checking the identity of four passengers on a missing Malaysia Airlines flight, but have not yet determined if the plane was downed by an attack, the country's transport minister has said.

Six Australian passengers were among the 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning (AEDT).

No distress signals were received from the Boeing 777-200ER before its disappearance.

European officials said it appeared two people on board were using stolen passports and Malaysian transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said authorities were also checking the identities of two other passengers.

Passengers on flight MH370 Nationality Total China/Taiwan 153 (1 infant) Malaysia 38 Indonesia 7 Australia 6 India 5 France 4 USA 3 (1 infant) New Zealand 2 Ukraine 2 Canada 2 Russia 1 Netherlands 1 Italy 1 (stolen passport) Austria 1 (stolen passport)

Mr Hussein, who is also defence minister, said he had activated counterterrorism units and contacted international intelligence agencies including the FBI.

"All the four names are with me," he told reporters at a press conference.

"I have indicated to our intelligence agencies and I have also spoken to international intelligence agencies for assistance."

He said the investigation would look at "all possibilities" and the entire passenger manifest, which has been released by Malaysia Airlines.

"Our search now has been extended to even wider areas. We're looking at the possibility of an aircraft air turn-back, in which case, different locations will have to be identified," he said.

The Chinese official newspaper Xiamen Daily reported that one of the passengers who was supposed to be on the flight, according to the manifest, was at home in China.

The name on the passport and the passport number did not match, according to the newspaper.

Interpol says at least two passports recorded in its lost or stolen database were used by passengers on the flight and it was "examining additional suspect passports".

"Whilst it is too soon to speculate about any connection between these stolen passports and the missing plane, it is clearly of great concern that any passenger was able to board an international flight using a stolen passport listed in Interpol's databases," Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble said in a statement.

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak told local media a review of airport security screening in the country would be held, in light of the use of stolen passports.

There are no confirmed signs of the plane or any wreckage. Search operations continued through the night, officials said.

"In fearing for the worst, a disaster recovery management specialist from Atlanta, USA, will be assisting Malaysia Airlines in this crucial time," the airline said in a statement.

Missing Australian passengers named

Two couples from Queensland and a couple from New South Wales were among the passengers on board the flight.

The manifest named them as Robert and Catherine Lawton, Rodney and Mary Burrows, Gu Naijun and Li Yuan.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it had been in contact with the families and the airline.

The Lawtons' neighbour, Caroline Daintith, said the couple were keen travellers.

"They seem to do a good trip every year," she said. "It was a big part of their lives and we knew they were excited about going on this trip."

Perth-based New Zealand man Paul Weeks, 39, was also on the flight, en route to Mongolia to begin a fly-in, fly-out role with mining contractor Transwest.

The father of two last contacted his family from the airport lounge before he boarded the flight.

His wife Danica says he was excited about starting his new job.

"He was so looking forward to it. He worked weeks and weeks every night, you know, getting up to speed," she said.

"He wanted to hit the ground running because that's Paul, you know, he's extremely intelligent, extremely driven."

Australia joins missing Malaysia Airlines plane search

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he spoke with Mr Razak on Sunday afternoon to convey his condolences and offer Australia's help with the search.

"On behalf of Australia, I offered two RAAF P-3C maritime surveillance aircraft to help with the search for the missing aircraft," he said in a statement.

"Prime Minister Najib has accepted this offer.

"The first Orion will depart for the search area this evening from Darwin. A second P-3C will be dispatched as soon as possible."

Mr Abbott said the P-3C Orion is a long-range maritime surveillance aircraft ideally suited to the search.

The Malaysia Airlines plane last had contact with air traffic controllers 120 nautical miles off the east coast of the Malaysian town of Kota Bharu.

Vietnamese naval boats sent from the holiday island of Phu Quoc patrolled stretches of the Gulf of Thailand, searching for any wreckage, scouring the area where an oil slick was spotted by patrol jets just before nightfall on Saturday (local time).

"Our two rescue boats have approached the two oil spills since 3:00am (local time) today but we haven't found any sign of the Malaysian plane yet," Admiral Ngo Van Phat told Reuters.

"Other boats are ready to go to support if needed."

Passengers travelling under false identities

There were no indications of sabotage nor claims of an attack.

But the passenger manifest issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans - Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi - who, according to their foreign ministries, were not on the plane.

A foreign ministry spokesman in Vienna said: "Our embassy got the information that there was an Austrian on board. That was the passenger list from Malaysia Airlines. Our system came back with a note that this is a stolen passport."

Austrian police had found the man safe at home. The passport was stolen two years ago while he was travelling in Thailand, the spokesman said.

The foreign ministry in Rome said no Italian was on the plane either, despite the inclusion of Mr Maraldi's name on the list. His mother, Renata Lucchi, told Reuters his passport was lost, presumed stolen, in Thailand in 2013.

US and European security officials said that there was no proof of foul play and there could be other explanations for the use of stolen passports.

A Malaysian official with knowledge of the investigation said the passengers being checked had all bought their tickets through China Southern Airlines, which was code-sharing the flight with Malaysia Airlines.

Chinese officials are investigating why the men used false names to book flights onward to Europe which means they did not need Chinese visas and avoided the additional scrutiny that comes with visa applications.

Decompression or explosion likely: expert

The disappearance of the plane is a chilling echo of an Air France flight that crashed into the South Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

John Goglia, a former board member of the National Transportation Safety Board, the US agency that investigates plane crashes, said the lack of a distress call suggested the plane either experienced an explosive decompression or was destroyed by an explosive device.

"It had to be quick because there was no communication," Mr Goglia said.

He said the false identities of the passengers was "a big red flag".

If there were passengers on board with stolen passports, it was not clear how they passed through security checks.

International police body Interpol maintains a database of more than 39 million travel documents reported lost or stolen by 166 countries.

It said the system enabled police, immigration or border control officers to check the validity of a suspect document within seconds.

No comment was immediately available from the organisation.

Map: Malaysia Airlines missing flight MH370

ABC/AFP/Reuters

Topics: air-transport, industry, air-and-space, accidents, malaysia, china, australia, asia

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