No answers in interim report on missing MH370

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Two years after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, answers remain elusive with international investigators yet to arrive at a conclusion over what happened to the jet.

The international team looking into the aircraft's disappearance said in an interim statement released on March 8 that it was still reviewing key information.

According to the report, the Beijing-bound international scheduled passenger flight, with a total of 239 persons (227 passengers and 12 crew) on board, departed KL International Airport at 0:42a.m on March 8, 2014. Less than 40 minutes after take-off, radar contact with the aircraft was lost after waypoint: IGARI.

To date, the MH370 wreckage has still not been found despite the continuing search in the South Indian Ocean, the report said.

A final report will be completed in the event the wreckage of the aircraft is located or the search for the wreckage is terminated, whichever is the earlier.

At this time, the team is continuing towards finalising its analysis, findings and conclusions and safety recommendations on eight relevant areas associated with the disappearance of flight MH370, based on available information.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said his government is committed to solving the mystery of Flight 370.

Vessels looking for the Malaysia Airlines jet are due to finish scouring 120,000 square kilometres of the South Indian Ocean by mid-2016.

If that search fails, officials from Malaysia, Australia and China will gather to determine the way forward, Najib said.

According to Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, nearly 90,000 sq. km of the 120,000 sq.km search area has been covered so far, yielding more than 500 findings.

None of these findings has provided any indication of the missing plane thus far, Liow said.

A wing fragment found off the French island of La Reunion in the Indian Ocean in July last year was confirmed to be from flight MH370.

Another two pieces of debris that could have come from the missing plane were discovered on Reunion Island and in Mozambique, 2,100 kilometres west of the island in late February and early March, 2016. They have been sent to authorities for verification.-VNA