KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 — A brief flash of hope when fishermen discovered what they thought was a raft from missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 turned to despair when maritime authorities sank the craft in their attempt to recover it.
According to the New Straits Times today, the yellow-and-black life raft emblazoned with the word “BOARDING” was spotted by a group of fishermen near Port Dickson in Negri Sembilan yesterday, who then alerted authorities.
“We managed to tie it to our boat as we feared it would sink due to the damage,” Azman Mohamad, one of the finders, told the newspaper.
Their fears proved real when the team dispatched from the Kuala Linggi Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) to retrieve the craft promptly sent it under the waves.
The report did not specify if the raft was now permanently lost.
Search for the Beijing-bound flight with 239 passengers onboard was expanded to cover the Straits of Malacca after military radar suggested it may have turned around from its last known location over the seas between Malaysia and Vietnam.
