Satellite spots 122 objects in search for Malaysian jet

KUALA LUMPUR: A French satellite scanning the Indian Ocean for remnants of a missing jetliner found a possible debris field containing 122 objects, a top Malaysian official said on Wednesday, calling it “the most credible lead that we have”.

Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein expressed exasperation with the anger rising among missing passengers’ relatives in China. About two-thirds of the missing are Chinese, but Hishammuddin pointedly said that Chinese families “must also understand that we in Malaysia also lost our loved ones” as did “so many other nations”.

Nineteen days into the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the latest satellite images were the first to suggest that a debris field from the plane — rather than just a few objects — might be floating in the southern Indian Ocean. Previously, an Australian satellite detected two large objects and a Chinese satellite detected one.

Clouds obscured the latest satellite images, but dozens of objects could be seen in the gaps, ranging in length from one metre to 23 metres. At a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Hishammuddin said some of them “appeared to be bright, possibly indicating solid materials”.