MH370 search to continue, says Malaysia

Putrajaya: Malaysia said on Friday that the search for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, that disappeared in March last year with 239 people on board, will continue.

"So far, over 26,000 sq km of the seafloor, or over 40 percent of the total priority zone, have been searched for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370," said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai, according to a Xinhua report.

The search vessels have been focusing on a 60,000 sq km priority zone, with the hunt scheduled to end in May.

Asked if the search for the jet would end after the entire priority zone was scoured, Liow said: "It totally depends on the conclusion of the experts, including those involved in the investigation of the incident."

He said Malaysia had already spent about 60 million ringgit (about $18 million) on the search, which is also funded by Australia and supported by China.

The minister said that weather condition in the south Indian Ocean was comparatively good now and one more ship from Malaysia was expected to join the search operations.

The Malaysia Airlines jet disappeared enroute from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing on March 8, 2014.

So far no trace of either the plane's debris or bodies of the people on board has been found despite the massive surface and underwater hunt.

The search is jointly carried out by Australia, Malaysia and China in the Indian Ocean some 1,600 km off Australia's west coast, with four ships using sophisticated sonar systems to scour a huge underwater area.

Earlier, the Malaysian government had declared that the plane had met with an accident and all the people on board were presumed dead.