Iranian asylum seeker 'used stolen passport' to board missing Malaysian airliner
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 11 March 2014 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Iranian asylum seeker 'used stolen passport' to board missing Malaysian airliner, 11 March 2014, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/534d2e7d12.html [accessed 20 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 11.03.2014 11:51
The crew of an airborne Soviet-made AN-26 being used as a search aircraft by the Vietnamese Air Force look for traces of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 over the South China Sea.
Interpol says two Iranians who were traveling with stolen passports were aboard the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet that remains missing.
The international police agency identified the Iranians as Pouri Nourmohammadi, 19, and Delavar Seyedmohammaderza, 29.
Interpol also released an image showing the men boarding the plane.
Interpol Secretary-General Ronald Noble said the men traveled to Malaysia on their Iranian passports then started using Austrian and Italian passports that had been reported stolen.
Noble offered his opinion that the evidence so far suggests the case of the missing plane is "not a terrorist incident."
Reuters quoted an unnamed senior military officer who had been briefed on the case as saying Malaysia's military believed the plane turned, dropped to a lower altitude, and flew some 500 kilometers to the west after it last made contact with air-traffic control.
The Boeing 777 disappeared from radar tracking on March 8 during a flight from Malaysia to Beijing with 239 people aboard.
Its whereabouts remain unknown.
Nearly 100 vessels and aircraft from 10 countries in Asia and the Pacific have joined the search in the South China Sea.
Authorities doubled the search area on March 10.
China, which had 153 of its nationals on board the plane, said it would use 10 satellites equipped with high-resolution imaging to help.
Based on reporting by AP, Reuters, AFP, CNN, and dpa
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
