SEPANG, March 9 — Local authorities are now investigating the possibility that missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 bound for Beijing may have been forced to turn around, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.

The acting transport minister said after taking that possibility into account, the search and rescue team widened their search scope.

“We have been up all night and that we confirm that our search now has been extended to even wider areas because we are looking at the possibility of an aircraft air turn back in which case, different locations will have to be identified,” he told reporters here at the Sama Sama Hotel here.

MORE TO COME