Going all out for miracle in search for missing Malaysian jet: Chinese ambassador

HANOI, March 11 -- "All-out efforts will be made to search for the missing Malaysian plane. I hope everything can turn better, and a miracle can happen for the plane," said Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Kong Xuanyou on Tuesday.

Speaking to Chinese and Vietnamese media during an interview in Vietnam's capital Hanoi, Kong said right after being informed of the Malaysian jet incident, the Chinese government instructed embassies and consulates in concerned countries to activate emergency mechanism to assist in the search and rescue operation.

Flight MH370, carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers including 154 Chinese, operated by Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777- 200 left Kuala Lumpur International Airport for Beijing on Saturday morning. Less than one hour after takeoff, it lost contact with air traffic control and vanished when flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area.

"The Chinese government expressed deep concerns over the work of searching for the missing plane, asking embassies and consulates in concerned countries, including Vietnam, to keep close contact and coordinate with relevant agencies to support the operation," Kong said, adding China has sent several batches of ships and aircraft to help in the search for the flight.

"For the next steps, according to the development of the search and rescue operation, China will deploy more search and rescue forces to join the work, if needed," he said.

Chinese navy's frigate Mianyang and amphibious landing ship Jinggangshan already arrived at the search site, while another two warships including Kunlunshan and Haikou are on the way and are scheduled to get to the area on Tuesday afternoon, according to Kong.

The multinational search and rescue operation has involved forces from sea, air and land working around the clock with the searching scope expanding, the ambassador said, adding that all parties need to strengthen consultation for the best results.

"In view of the new tasks in the search mission, how to strengthen consultation and coordination as well as how to divide searching areas among all parties are very important. There should be a platform for consultation and real-time communication among all relevant parties to work for the best effects," Kong said, "I hope that the coordination among countries in search and rescue work could become more effective. China is ready to play an active role in the work."

The ambassador also expressed his gratitude for Vietnamese government and rescue agencies' prompt response as well as the efforts by all the people involved in the search and rescue mission.

"We are all hoping for a miracle. We will closely follow the work of search and rescue. We hope that the Vietnamese government will, just like us, not give up (efforts) as long as there is a gleam of hope and let go of any piece of clue in searching for the plane, and will, together with China and other countries, make further efforts to find the missing plane," Kong said.