CHRIS UHLMANN: Two days after a Malaysia Airlines plane failed to arrive in Beijing there is, as yet, no sign of any wreckage, as 40 ships and 34 aircraft from nine different nations scour the seas off Vietnam and Malaysia. Two hundred and thirty nine people, including six Australians, are missing.
Authorities are investigating the possibility of a terrorist attack because two passengers on board the flight were travelling on stolen passports. And mysteriously there was no distress signal from the plane before it lost contact with air traffic controllers.
In Kuala Lumpur the families of those onboard spend their hours in a hotel near the airport as they wait for news.
Our South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley filed this report from Kuala Lumpur.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: In the Malaysian capital CCTV footage is now vital evidence for authorities. It shows the two potential suspects arriving and boarding Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to Beijing.
The pair was travelling on stolen passports belonging to an Italian and Austrian man. Both documents were reported missing in Thailand at different times.
The nation's defence minister and acting transport minister is Hishammuddin Hussein.
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: I can confirm that we have visuals on them through the CCTV, and I also can confirm that the two individuals concerned and their details have been forwarded to the intelligence agencies - not only local, but international.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Can you confirm what their nationality is?
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: No, not yet. I do not want to reveal any information which may affect the investigation of this nature because it involved security threats. But concerns the public has had on these two fake passports, I've indicated that we have managed to get visuals of them.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: You said 'not yet' - so you seem quite certain that it is a terrorist act? You said 'not yet'.
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: I said from the beginning that we are looking at all possibilities. Just because 'not yet' does not mean that we are saying that it is a terrorist act, but we are not discounting anything when it comes to the lives of innocent people.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: There are now also investigations into the possibility the plane may have turned around after it lost contact with air traffic controllers on the ground.
The relatives of the passengers and crew on the plane spend their hours at a hotel about a 40 minute drive from Kuala Lumpur's international airport where they wait for news. They're visited often by prominent Malaysians - including on this occasion, the wife of the embattled opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
WAN AZIZAH WAN ISMAIL: Of course they deserve our condolences. The other thing is that we have to know for sure what happened, and therefore keep them... at least not in the dark and not expect... we do expect the worst.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: As the wait grows longer any glimmer of hope they had is fading fast.
This is Samantha Hawley in Kuala Lumpur reporting for AM.
Authorities are investigating the possibility of a terrorist attack because two passengers on board the flight were travelling on stolen passports. And mysteriously there was no distress signal from the plane before it lost contact with air traffic controllers.
In Kuala Lumpur the families of those onboard spend their hours in a hotel near the airport as they wait for news.
Our South-East Asia correspondent Samantha Hawley filed this report from Kuala Lumpur.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: In the Malaysian capital CCTV footage is now vital evidence for authorities. It shows the two potential suspects arriving and boarding Malaysia Airlines flight 370 to Beijing.
The pair was travelling on stolen passports belonging to an Italian and Austrian man. Both documents were reported missing in Thailand at different times.
The nation's defence minister and acting transport minister is Hishammuddin Hussein.
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: I can confirm that we have visuals on them through the CCTV, and I also can confirm that the two individuals concerned and their details have been forwarded to the intelligence agencies - not only local, but international.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: Can you confirm what their nationality is?
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: No, not yet. I do not want to reveal any information which may affect the investigation of this nature because it involved security threats. But concerns the public has had on these two fake passports, I've indicated that we have managed to get visuals of them.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: You said 'not yet' - so you seem quite certain that it is a terrorist act? You said 'not yet'.
HISHAMMUDDIN HUSSEIN: I said from the beginning that we are looking at all possibilities. Just because 'not yet' does not mean that we are saying that it is a terrorist act, but we are not discounting anything when it comes to the lives of innocent people.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: There are now also investigations into the possibility the plane may have turned around after it lost contact with air traffic controllers on the ground.
The relatives of the passengers and crew on the plane spend their hours at a hotel about a 40 minute drive from Kuala Lumpur's international airport where they wait for news. They're visited often by prominent Malaysians - including on this occasion, the wife of the embattled opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim.
WAN AZIZAH WAN ISMAIL: Of course they deserve our condolences. The other thing is that we have to know for sure what happened, and therefore keep them... at least not in the dark and not expect... we do expect the worst.
SAMANTHA HAWLEY: As the wait grows longer any glimmer of hope they had is fading fast.
This is Samantha Hawley in Kuala Lumpur reporting for AM.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-10/still-no-sign-of-wreckage-from-missing-plane/5309284
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