SEPANG, March 13 — China has confirmed that the publication of the satellite image allegedly showing possible signs of MH370 in the sea had been sent by accident, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.
The Defence and acting Transport Minister told a press conference here that Putrajaya had received a note on the matter from China’s Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang.
“We have contacted the Chinese embassy who notified us this afternoon that the images were released by mistake, and did not show any debris from MH370,” Hishammuddin said.
He later read out from Huang’s note, which said that the Chinese government “neither authorises nor endorses this behaviour, which is now under investigation.”
Late yesterday, China’s State Administration for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence (SASTIND) released three pictures showing large floating objects in the South China Sea, which was suspected to be from the missing MH370 aircraft.
According to a report on SASTIND’s website, the images showed pieces as large as 24 metres by 22 metres, and were taken on March 9, a day after the Boeing 777 aircraft fell off the radar.
Hishammuddin said a Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) surveillance plane was dispatched this morning to investigate the potential debris but “found nothing”.
He slammed the media today for reporting China’s satellite image, which he said had slowed down search efforts.
The media frenzy over the satellite images was the latest in a series of false signals given to the multi-national search team that has been combing 93,000 square kilometres, an area the size of Hungary, for the Boeing 777-200ER.
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight M370 went missing at approximately 1.30am on Saturday morning, just 40 minutes after it departed from the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) on March 8.
Military radar recorded a plane that could have been the MAS flight turning back to the Straits of Malacca before losing the data plot at 2.15am when the plane was at 29,500 feet.
The aircraft was ferrying 239 people to Beijing, including 12 flight crew members and two infants.
Search and rescue operations for the missing airplane entered Day 6 today and has been joined by a total of 43 ships and 40 aircraft from more than 10 nations worldwide.
Hishammuddin insisted today that despite failed attempts to locate the aircraft, the mission would go on.
“With every passing day, the task becomes more difficult. As always, our thoughts and prayers are with the families of those on the flight. We will spare nothing in our efforts to find MH370,” he said.
