Missing plane still a mystery

ROUGH CUT - NO REPORTER NARRATION

Search operations for a missing Malaysia Airlines flight that vanished from radar screens over the South China Sea with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board continued on Sunday (March 9).

By the early hours of Sunday, there were no confirmed signs of the plane or any wreckage, well over 24 hours after it went missing.

"The rescue operations continued last night, until this morning. We have to report that we are not able to locate or see anything. Therefore, there is nothing new to report," said Director General of Department Of Civil Aviation of Malaysia, Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who added that the aerial search also resumed at first light.

There were no indications of sabotage nor claims of an attack.

But the passenger manifest issued by the airline included the names of two Europeans - Austrian Christian Kozel and Italian Luigi Maraldi - who, according to their foreign ministries, were not in fact on the plane.

Both