SYDNEY, March 24. /ITAR-TASS/. Two new objects that may be related to the missing Malaysian Boeing 777-200 have been spotted today by specialists from the Australian plane that participates in the search and rescue operation, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
Abbott noted that the objects are located in the Indian Ocean, about 2,500 kilomoteres off Asutralia's cost. One of the objects, of green or grey color, has the circular shape, and another one, orange in color, is rectangular. The ship of the Australian Naval Forces "Success" has been sent to the site where the objects had been spotted.
Australia decided to expand the search area in the Indian Ocean from 23,000 to 68,000 kilometeres.
Possible debris of missing Boeing
Earlier today, Chinese airplanes have detected in the Indian Ocean several objects that may be debris of missing Malaysian Boeing, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported on Monday.
It was reported earlier that two Ilyushin Il-76 airplanes of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force joined the search operation in the southern part of the Indian Ocean on Monday. Thus, ten airplanes from Australia, New Zealand, the United States, China and Japan are participating in the search operation on Monday. China has also dispatched research icebreaker Xue Long (Snow Dragon) to search the missing airliner.
Chinese airplanes flew to join the search operation, after the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) reported that it had detected two objects drifting around 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth, Australia. Later, Chinese and French authorities also stated that some suspicious objects were spotted in the Indian Ocean. Chinese satellites have detected them in the southern corridor of the search area in the Indian Ocean around 120 kilometers away from the place, where other two objects, presumably the plane’s debris, were spotted, according to AMSA.
Plane disappearance
Boeing 777-200 of the Malaysian Airlines was en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 7. The airliner was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crewmembers. Radio contact was lost with the airliner two hours after its departure from the Malaysian capital. Later, electronic radars detected that the airliner had changed the route and made a sharp turn to the Indian Ocean.