馬官方再次召開新聞發佈會 救援國家增至25個
KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Xinhua) -- The Malaysian government had asked as many as 25 countries for assistance and received " unprecedented" positive response, as the search for the missing jet liner continues to demand immense resources, officials said here on Sunday.
As search operations entered the ninth day and Malaysian officials uncovered new data on the possible flight path of MH 370 that point to two new corridors, the demand for satellite information, radar playback, aircraft and vessels have become greater, Malaysia's Transportation Minister Hishamuddin Hussein told reporters.
The new search areas announced on Saturday encompass a northern corridor stretching approximately from the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to northern Thailand as well as a southern one from Indonesia to the southern Indian Ocean.
"We are now looking at large tracts of land crossing 11 countries as well as deep and remote oceans. The number of countries involved in the search and rescue operations has increased from 14 to 25, which brings new challenges of coordination and diplomacy to the effort," he said.
In the last 24 hours the Malaysian prime minister has spoken to prime ministers of Bangladesh and India, as well as presidents of Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan. The Malaysian foreign minister has also briefed officials from countries in the north and southern corridors. This includes a briefing to representatives from 22 countries including nations along the new search corridors as well as other countries that may be able to help.
"Basically, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Australia have been approached. Malaysian officials are requesting assistance from these and other countries. This support includes general satellite data, radar playback, visions of ground and sea search and assets as appropriate," he added.
"We are asking countries with satellite assets including the U. S, China and France among others to provide further satellite data. We are contacting additional countries who may be able to contribute specific assets. These assets are particularly needed to cover the vast areas of the southern search corridor."
Both corridors will be treated with equal importance and Malaysia is still in discussions to decide how assets provided by friendly countries will be used.
Malaysian police had also revisited the homes of the pilot and co-pilot, retrieving the flight simulator of the pilot, which is being investigated. Meanwhile, Malaysian Airlines said the pilot and co-pilot did not request to fly together, dismissing speculation of a pre-planned hijack attempt.
Hussein also told reporters that no extra fuel or hazardous cargo was carried on the flight. Authorities would continue to analyze the backgrounds of the 239 passengers and crew members with the help of international intelligence agencies, but Malaysian Police Chief Khalid Abu Bakar refused to give any details and said only that nothing suspicious has come up.
【新聞快訊】
3月16日下午5點30分，馬來西亞官方在吉隆坡再次召開新聞發佈會，通報馬航失聯航班的最新搜救和調查進展。馬來西亞國防部長兼代理交通部長希沙姆丁，馬來西亞民航總局幹事長、馬來西亞航空首席執行官（CEO）艾哈邁德、馬來西亞皇家警察總監哈立德（Khalid）出席發佈會。
希沙姆丁表示，馬航失聯航班目前的搜救行動已經進入新的階段，面臨的情況更加複雜。搜救國家的數量由14國增加到25國。馬來西亞已經同孟加拉國總理、哈薩克斯坦總統、印度總理等通話，尋求協助；已要求美國、中國、法國提供更多衛星數據。搜救仍由馬方主導。對於飛機可能失聯的兩大南北走廊，在搜救時它們同樣重要。
希沙姆丁說，馬警方正調查機上所有機組人員和乘客，包括起飛前聯絡的技術師。機長和副駕駛此前並未要求共同執行失聯MH370航班的飛行任務，兩人是航空公司隨機安排的。
希沙姆丁說，暫未發現飛機上行李或貨物有任何異常，不過他們會繼續進行調查。
馬來西亞警察總監哈立德同時確認，警方昨天搜索了機長和副機長的住所，並檢查了機長的模擬飛行系統。對於失聯飛機進行的調查包括劫機、破壞、恐怖襲擊等可能性。
此外，馬方還表示，通常航班會帶45分鐘或1小時的儲備燃油，飛機起飛時所載有的航油量符合原定計劃，並未載有計劃外的油量。飛機計劃可以飛行7.5-8小時。當飛機與衛星聯繫時，有可能飛機已經降落。
對於馬航失聯是“9·11”襲擊翻版的猜測，馬方迴應稱，馬方內部安全預警信息運轉良好，未發現馬航MH370航班朝城市等陸地目標行進。未發現這架飛機要撞標誌建築物。
