Malaysia highly values VN’s plane search efforts

Minister of National Defense Phung Quang Thanh

The lost flight has yet been located his country is expanding search sites to the North and South of the Indian Ocean after halting operation in the East Sea, according to Mr. Hishammuddin Hussein.

General Phung Quang Thanh shared the concern of the Government, army and people of Malaysia.

He said that right after receiving the information on the missing aircraft, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung tasked the Ministries of Defense, Transport and other competent agencies to mobilize forces for the search.

Vietnamese air force-air defense will continue keeping a close watch on the case and timely inform the Malaysian side any new information, General Thanh said.

Leaders of the two countries have made three phone calls since the flight with 239 people on board lost contact with ground control on March 8. Earlier, PM Nguyen Tan Dung and Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh also had phone calls to their Malaysian counterparts.

Viet Nam has mobilized the largest scale of forces for this search-rescue operation, including 11 planes and seven ships./.

By Huong Giang