KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 — Theories of Flight MH370 sightings and locations should be verified before being thrown out by search teams, the families of those aboard the ill-fated flight said today.

Voice370, the group representing the families, cited as example the claimed sighting of a plane flying low in the Maldives area.

“We believe that other theories put forward if accompanied by credible evidence should be verified by independent investigators before being discounted.

“For example, we would appreciate it if the investigation team would actually interview witnesses, like those in Maldives who claimed to have seen a low-flying plane for evidence to either prove or disprove the theory before they completely dismiss the possibility,” the group said in an email response to Malay Mail Online.

The underwater search for Flight MH370 is currently being conducted in the southern Indian Ocean off the Australian coast, while Maldives is an island in the Indian Ocean-Arabian Sea region.

This Thursday, Australia’s Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss said the alleged sightings of the still missing Flight MH370 in Maldives are “not possible”, noting that recent reports were merely year-old news reports that had resurfaced.

“It’s also completely inconsistent with satellite data that’s available and inconsistent with the radar sightings that were available. It wasn’t picked up by the Maldives air traffic tower or other authorities in that area and so it’s not considered to be a likely possibility,” he had told reporters here.

Truss had also said experts are “quite confident” that the aircraft likely lies within the search zone identified.

The three nations — Malaysia, Australia, China — said this Thursday that it will expand and double the current 60,000-square-kilometres search area if the plane is not found in the current zone.

In the same response to a question on whether Voice370 thinks the search should be conducted elsewhere, the group acknowledged that the authorities were basing their search area “on the only available evidence with a semblance of credibility”.

“We acknowledge the Independent Group of Experts who worked in parallel with the authorities also arrived at a similar conclusion but that does not mean every other possibility should be discounted,” it told Malay Mail Online.

This week, Malaysia’s Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai confirmed that 61 per cent of the current 60,000-square-kilometre search area located within the high priority zone has been scoured.

Both Australia and Malaysia are splitting the A$120 million (RM325 million) pledged for the search, while the expanded search phase is likely to cost the two nations an additional A$50 million.

The year-long search for Flight MH370 — which disappeared with 239 people on board on March 8 last year — has failed to yield any leads.

On January 29 this year, the Malaysian government declared the loss of Flight MH370 as an accident under international aviation regulations.