KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today that none of the 239 people aboard the missing MH370 have been cleared by investigators, contradicting a previous statement made by Malaysia’s police chief.

The acting Transport Minister told today’s MH370 press briefing that all 239 people, including the 12 flight crew members, are still under a four-pronged probe for hijacking, sabotage and psychological and personal problems.

“I don’t think anybody has been cleared from any investigation. And like I said, as far as the manifest list, which includes the crew as well, the four possibilities that IGP has constantly reminded us, which is whether it is a investigation on terrorism, hijacking, psychological or personal... that, as I know, is still ongoing,” he told the press conference at the Putra World Trade Center (PWTC).

On Wednesday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar reportedly said that all 227 passengers have been cleared and the focus of investigations have now turned to the 12 crew members.

“They have been cleared of the four (elements). It (is) according to our own procedure (investigation),” he was quoted saying in Bernama.

Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 aircraft, was bound for Beijing when it took off from the Kuala Lumpur International (KLIA) airport at 12.41am on March 8, one month ago.

The widebody jet carrying 239 people lost contact with the Subang Air Traffic Control barely one hour into the flight, when it was hovering somewhere 120 nautical miles off the coast of Kota Baru. A massive multi-nation search and rescue effort was mounted immediately after and upon discovering through information gleaned from satellite and radar data that the plane had made an air turnback in mid-flight, investigators turned the spotlight on those aboard the flight.

On March 15, a week after MH370's disappearance, it was concluded that the aircraft headed in a westerly direction after it lost contact with ground control and its behaviour was consistent with “deliberate action” taken by someone on board.

Investigators then homed in on the passengers and crew members in their probe, identifying four possible elements that could have caused the plane’s disappearance - hijacking, terrorism, personal or psychological problems.

Special attention was paid to MAS pilot Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and his co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid, the only two with sufficient aviation expertise to turn the plane. So far, however, investigators have not found any leads in their probe.