"Furthermore, the data of radars at Maldives airports have also been analysed and shows no indication of the said flight. The Maldives National Defence Force will continue to render any assistance required by the Maldives Police Service and international authorities on the search for the missing flight and related issues.”

Earlier reports had quoted several residents of Kudahuvadhoo in Dhaal atoll who saw a low-flying aircraft heading in a south-easterly direction on the morning of March 8, prompting speculation that it could have been Malaysian Airlines flight MH370.

The residents said the aircraft had markings similar to the missing Malaysian Airlines plane.

The Maldives news website Minivan News quoted five eyewitnesses who said they saw the aircraft. “It was about 6:30 in the morning, I heard a loud noise and went out to see what it was,” Adam Saeed, a teacher at Kudahuvadhoo school, told the Maldives news website Minivan News.

“I saw a flight flying very low and it had a red straight line in the middle of it. The flight was travelling north-west to south-east,” he said.