Missing Malaysia Airlines plane: yellow object not a liferaft

A floating yellow object uncovered in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has been confirmed to be unrelated.

09:59 10 March 2014

Authorities are still "puzzled" by an "unprecedented" disappearance of a Malaysia Airlines plane with 239 people on board.

A yellow floating object had been reported over the weekend by the crew of a Vietnamese jet roughly 90 miles southwest of Tho Chu island, but turned out to be another false alarm.

Other sightings reported to be an aircraft door or tail section have either been unconfirmed or ruled out by investigators. Two oil slicks are still being tested.

It is still unclear if the Boeing 777-200 flight MH370 was hijacked, destroyed in a terror attack or crashed.

However, it has been revealed that at least two passengers boarded the flight using stolen passports. This is currently being investigated by Interpol.

Reuters news agency had initially reported that the plane disintegrated at about 35,000ft but there is no clear evidence of this.

Around two thirds of the passengers were Chinese. If the plane is lost and the passengers are deceased, it would be the second worst air disaster in the nation's history.