MALAYSIA UPDATE: Reported Debris Steps Up Search In Southern Part Of Indian Ocean

Two weeks after a Malaysian airliner carrying 239 people vanished, international teams stepped up their search deep in the southern Indian Ocean on Saturday, as a Malaysian minister expressed fear a possible sighting of debris may be another false lead, according to the Associated Press.

Searches by more than two dozen countries have turned up little but frustration and fresh questions about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on a scheduled flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, the AP reported.

Six aircraft and two merchant ships were scouring an area of the remote southern Indian Ocean where suspected debris was spotted by satellite six days ago, according to the AP. There were no reports of any wreckage being found.

Australia, which announced the satellite image and is coordinating the rescue, has cautioned the objects might be a lost shipping container or other debris and may have since sunk, the AP reported.

"Even though this is not a definite lead, it is probably more solid than any other lead around the world and that is why so much effort and interest is being put into this search," Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss told reporters, according to the AP.

According to several people familiar with the matter, India has told Malaysian investigators that it had found no evidence the plane flew through its airspace, making the satellite debris lead more solid, the AP reported.

It was the first formal notification that India had come up empty-handed after checking its radar records, the sources said, according to the AP.

China, Japan and India were sending more planes and Australian and Chinese navy vessels were also steaming towards the southern zone, more than 1,200 miles southwest of Perth, the AP reported.

Weather conditions were good, with 6 miles of visibility, according to officials, who said it was a crucial boost for a search that is relying more on human eyes than the technical wizardry of the most advanced aircraft in the world, the AP reported.

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