Malaysia Airlines loses contact with plane flying to Beijing

LONDON. KAZINFORM Malaysia Airlines says it has lost contact with a plane travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with 239 people on board.

The airline said in a statement that flight MH370 disappeared at 02:40 local time on Saturday (18:40 GMT on Friday), BBC News reports. It had been expected to land in Beijing at 06:30 (22:30 GMT). "Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft," the carrier said. "Our team is currently calling the next-of-kin of passengers and crew." The Boeing B777-200 aircraft was carrying 227 passengers, including two children, and 12 crew members. "We deeply regret that we have lost all contacts with flight MH370 which departed Kuala Lumpur at 12.41 am earlier this morning bound for Beijing," said Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, Malaysia Airlines' group chief executive officer. 'Lost over Vietnam' The passengers were of 13 different nationalities, the airline added. The flight went missing two hours after taking off from Kuala Lumpur. China's Xinhua state news agency said it was lost in airspace controlled by Vietnam. It said some 160 Chinese passengers were among the people on board. The aircraft did not enter airspace controlled by China and did not make contact with Chinese controllers, the agency added. Details also here