Chinese vessels search for missing flight

A crew member of the rescue vessel "South China Sea Rescue 101" checks equipment in this photo taken on March 10. The vessel is expected to arrive in the search area on Tuesday, and take part in a multinational operation to find the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, which was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese nationals.[Photo/Xinhua]

 

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SOUTH CHINA SEA -- Two rescue vessels sent by the Ministry of Transport (MOT) will conduct parallel search works for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, said command authorities on Monday.

Rescue vessel "South China Sea Rescue 101", carrying 12 divers and salvagers, will arrive at the target area around Tuesday noon, said Zhang Jianxin, deputy chief of the emergency response team on the vessel.

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It will join rescue vessel "South China Sea Rescue 115," which is expected to arrive in the area at about 8 p.m. Monday.

Both vessels are scheduled to search the sea in parallel from west to east following a course provided by the China Marine Search and Rescue Center(CMSRC), said Zhang.

Our mission follow the principle of "rescuing people first, then salvaging the wreckage," said Zeng Zuoqing, head of the coordination sector of the team.

The search in daytime will be mainly visual, with auxiliary radar. At night, we will use search equipment such as optical tracking and infrared night-vision scope, he said.

The CMSRC will coordinate with its Malaysian counterpart to arrange more vessels.

A Boeing 777-200 aircraft operated by Malaysia Airlines left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 0:41 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m.

Contact with the flight was lost along with its radar signal at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday when it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam.

The flight was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.