India's Coastguard Joins Search for Missing Malaysia Plane
India's coastguard joined the aerial
search Wednesday for
the missing Malaysia Airlines plane carrying 239 people off the remote Andaman
and Nicobar islands, a senior officer told AFP.
A Dornier
aircraft belonging to the coastguard set off mid-afternoon local time to scour
the eastern side of the Andaman islands on orders from the Indian government,
the inspector general of the coastguard service said.
"We
were directed to take part in the search operations up to the eastern fringes
of the exclusive economic zone of the Andaman islands," V.S.R. Murthy told
AFP. "We are looking into that area for any clues to the
missing airliner," he
added.
The Andaman and Nicobar islands are
Indian territory, although they are at least 1,000 kilometers from the mainland
and are closer to the coast of Myanmar.
The hunt
for MH370, involving the navies and air forces of multiple nations, had focused on an area off
Vietnam's South China Sea coast where it last made contact Saturday on a
journey from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
But
Malaysian authorities said Wednesday they were now
expanding the search to the Andaman Sea north of Indonesia, hundreds of
kilometres away.
India's
airforce was also on standby to search for the missing plane, which was
carrying five Indian nationals among its passengers, as the president said the
country was ready to provide any help needed.
Indian Air
Force spokesman Gerard Galway said planes were ready to deploy to scour the
waters west of Malaysia.
"We
have not received any task [as of now] but in case there is a requirement, our
aircraft will be deployed to assist in the search operations," Galway told
AFP.
President
Pranab Mukherjee said the country was ready to offer any assistance required
and that officials were in constant contact with Malaysia over the plane's
disappearance.
"We appreciate the efforts of the government of Malaysia to locate the
missing aircraft and are ready to provide any help needed,"
Mukherjee's office said in a statement.
A foreign
ministry spokesman said Malaysia had accepted India's offer of assistance and
details on what form that might take were still being worked out between the
two sides.
"We are [still] coordinating details with the Malaysian
side," spokesman Syed Akbaruddin
said.
Mukherjee's
office said the president had spoken with Malaysia's king, expressing his
"deep concern and sympathy" over the missing jet. (*****)
Created by:Agence
France-Presse, New Delhi
Posted @ Wed,
March 12 2014, 10:28 PM
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