Malaysian plane with 5 Indians on board goes missing off Vietnam coast

A Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines plane that went missing with 239 people on board, including five Indians, today presumed crashed into the sea off Vietnam's southern Phu Quoc Island, Vietnamese media reported.
A relative (woman in white) of a passenger onboard Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 cries as she talks on her mobile phone at the Beijing Capital International Airport (Reuters)

Vietnamese state media, quoting a senior naval official, had reported that the Boeing 777-200ER flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing had crashed off south Vietnam. Malaysia’s transport minister later denied any crash scene had been identified. (AP)

A fresh passengers' list issued by the airline said five Indians were among the 239 passengers on board the aircraft, correcting its previous account in which Indians were not mentioned. (AP)

"At the moment, there are no Vietnamese navy boats in that area so we have to ask boats from Phu Quoc island to be prepared for rescue," the admiral said. (AP)

From the report it was not clear how the admiral knew about the crash or whether the wreckage of the ill-fated plane has been located. (AP)

There is no confirmation about the report from the Malaysian authorities. (AP)

Chinese media is reporting the plane may have crashed into the South China Sea, state-run Xinhua news agency said. (AP)

The plane took off at 12:41 a.m. (local time) and lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control near Kuala Lumpur almost two hours later at 2:40 a.m, the airlines said. (AP)