Vietnam Deputy Transport Minister Pham Quy Tieu holding a press conference at Phu Quoc airport. — Picture by Choo Choy May

PHU QUOC ISLAND, March 12 — Vietnamese authorities froze search and rescue activities for the missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 today, after reports arose that the plane was last spotted over the Straits of Malacca in Malaysia.

Vietnam’s deputy transport minister Pham Quy Tieu also complained today that a Malaysian official with whom Vietnam is liaising, was not providing sufficient information.

He did not, however, identify the person.

“We are temporarily suspending search and rescue activities, although there will still be a few planes going out,” Pham told reporters here today.

Representatives from the Taoist, Muslim and Buddhist religions sit next to Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup during an interfaith prayer called ‘Hope’ for the passengers and crew of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at a Buddhist temple in Kuala Lumpur March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic Members of a Search and Rescue ship use binoculars to look for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, in the Straits of Malacca March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic Members of a Search and Rescue ship look at a map of the Straits of Malacca as they hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, in the Malacca Strait March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic China’s ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang arrives at Cyberview Lodge in Cyberjaya to visit the family members of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on March 12, 2014. — Picture by Saw Siow Feng Acting Transport Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein answers questions next to Chief of Armed Forces General Tan Sri Zulkifeli Mohd Zin on the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane during a news conference at Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic Deputy Commander of Vietnam 918 Air Brigade Senior Lieutenant Nguyen Tri Thuc speaks with the media after a mission to find the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that disappeared from radar screens in the early hours of Saturday, at a military airport in Ho Chi Minh City March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic Ibrahim Mat Zin (centre), a local well-known ‘bomoh’, holds two coconuts as he performs a ritual to help finding the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 at Kuala Lumpur International Airport March 12, 2014. — Reuters pic A member of Philippine Air Force Search and Rescue team aboard a C130 military plane searches for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 on western Philippine sea March 11, 2014. — Reuters pic A woman writes a message of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 on a banner at Kuala Lumpur International Airport, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic A tourist from Vietnam writes a message expressing hope for family members and those on-board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, in Kuala Lumpur, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Family members of passengers of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 leave a rest area after a morning meeting at Lido Hotel in Beijing, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic A family member of a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane cries as she enters a hotel where family members of those aboard the flight are being put up, in Putrajaya, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Notes from a meeting with officials of Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation and the Chinese joint working group after the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, at a hotel at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, March 12, 2014. Zamani Zakaria, 56, the father of a passenger on the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane, speaks to journalists at a hotel where family members of those aboard the flight are being put up, in Putrajaya, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Military personnel look out of a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C130 transport plane as they search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane over the South China Sea, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane pick up their Malaysian visas at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. ― AFP pic A woman writes messages of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic A member of the military personnel looks out of a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C130 transport plane during a search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane over the South China Sea, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Relatives of passengers from the missing Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 plane wait on a bus after picking up their Malaysian visas at the Metro Park Lido Hotel in Beijing on March 12, 2014. ― AFP pic A crew member checking a map on-board a Vietnamese Air Force Russian-made MI-171 helicopter during a search flight some 200km over the southern Vietnamese waters off Phu Quoc island on March 12, 2014. ― AFP pic Women leave messages of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Military personnel look out of a Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) C130 transport plane as they search for the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane over the South China Sea, March 12, 2014. ― Reuters pic Previous Next

He said that Vietnam has sent two requests to Malaysia to clarify the media reports.

Reports citing an unnamed military source as saying MH370 was tracked by the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) to a location in the Straits of Malacca threw search efforts into disarray today, with rescuers facing the prospect that they may have spent four days looking in the wrong ocean.

But RMAF chief General Tan Sri Rodzali Daud has now denied that its radar last observed the plane with 239 people onboard over the Straits of Malacca — hundreds of kilometres from the south of Tho Chu island, in Vietnam where it was last registered by ground controllers on March 8.

Instead, he maintains that the air force saw indications that MH370 attempted a turnaround prior to its disappearance.

But Malaysia also expanded the search to now include the Andaman Sea, further northwest of existing efforts in the Straits, adding to the confusion.

Despite the massive airborne and naval search undertaken by 10 nations scouring the waters from the South China Sea to the Straits of Malacca, no trace of the 140-tonne Boeing 777 has been found going into the fifth days since it disappeared from the radar.

The waters south of Tho Chu island is the site that has yielded the most sightings of “debris” from the plane, although all later proved to be false alarms.

On Sunday, an oil slick was spotted that search teams believed were from the Boeing 777, but later tests revealed this to be from bunkering oil.

Yesterday, Pham said that he feared the worst after a four-day search yielded no trace of the jetliner.

Out of the 239 people onboard the missing plane, 50, including the crew, were Malaysians.