No information on missing flight: Malaysia Airline

Beijing, March 9: There is still no information on the location of Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370, more than 24 hours after it lost contact with ground, the airline said early Sunday.

"As of now, the search and the rescue team has yet to determine the whereabouts of the MH370," Xinhua quoted the airline's spokesperson as saying at a press conference in Beijing, which lasted less than 30 minutes.

He added that rescue teams have "failed to find evidence of any wreckage".

The flight, a Boeing 777-200, lost contact with ground control at 1:20 a.m. Saturday when it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam.

On board were 227 passengers from 14 countries, including 154 Chinese, and 12 Malaysian flight crew.

A team of 93 staff from the airline arrived in Beijing late Saturday night. The spokesperson said they are here mainly to take care of the relatives of those on board the missing flight.

Once the whereabouts of the aircraft is determined, the airline will fly members of the families to the location, according to the spokesperson. Rescue efforts were on, he added.

Around 120 relatives and friends of passengers on the missing jet have arrived in Beijing and have been accommodated at the Lido hotel near the airport.

IANS