Beijing: According to Vietnamese Naval office, Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 carrying 239 people crashed over the South China Sea early Saturday morning. It was on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The plane lost communication two hours into the flight in Vietnam’s airspace at 1:20 a.m. (18:20 GMT Friday).
The plane took off Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. Saturday (16:41 GMT Friday) and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. Saturday (22:30 GMT Friday), Malaysia Airlines said.
The plane was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members, the airline said. Passengers were from at least 12 countries, including 152 from China, seven Australians and four Americans. Â
“Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew. Focus of the airline is to work with the emergency responders and authorities and mobilize its full support,” Malaysia Airlines CEO Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said in a statement.
“Malaysia Airlines last fatal incident was in 1995, when one its planes crashed near the Malaysian city of Tawau, killing 34 people.
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