Flight MH370: China ship searching for objects in new area

A Chinese ship is scouring a new area of Indian Ocean for “objects” spotted in the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines jet, Australia says. The vessel has been at the scene trying to retrieve the items since first light, Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) says. Aircraft are also travelling to the new search area, about 1,100km (700 miles) north-east of the previous zone. Beijing-bound MH370 flight disappeared on March 8 with 239 passengers on board. Five search planes spotted multiple objects of various colours in southern Indian Ocean on Friday. A Royal New Zealand Air Force Orion first spotted “a number of objects white or light in colour and a fishing buoy”, Amsa said. An Australian plane then went to relocate the items and spotted “two blue/grey rectangular objects”, and three other planes reported similar sightings. Investigators will not know whether the objects are connected to the missing Boeing 777/200ER aircraft until they have been recovered by ships. The Chinese patrol ship Haixun 01 was deployed to locate the objects early on Saturday, and eight aircraft would also be taking part in the day’s operation, Amsa said, according to BBC.