INDONESIA-AIRPLANE/CHINA China offers to help in search for missing AirAsia flight

Record ID: 872540

  • Title: INDONESIA-AIRPLANE/CHINA China offers to help in search for missing AirAsia flight
  • Date: 29th December 2014
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (DECEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING WALKING IN FOR REGULAR NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESWOMAN HUA CHUNYING SAYING: "We have been very concerned about the safety of the people on board, since we learnt that an AirAsia plane went missing. We feel the same pain their relatives are feeling. We noticed that an intense search and rescue operation is still going on. The Chinese side has already said to Indonesia that we are willing to send aircraft and ships urgently to participate in the search and rescue, and will provide other aid according to Indonesia's needs. As far as I know, we are in close contact with the Indonesian side." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS EXTERIOR OF CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY CHINESE NATIONAL FLAG FLYING
  • Embargoed: 13th January 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • City:
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA9D1FBO6BIL50UKGCN4U2CWYT4
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  • Story Text: China on Monday (December 29) said it has offered to send aircraft and ships to help in the search for a missing AirAsia flight that went missing the previous day, en route from the Indonesian city of Surabaya to Singapore.
    "We have been very concerned about the safety of the people on board, since we learnt that an AirAsia plane went missing. We feel the same pain their relatives are feeling. We noticed that an intense search and rescue operation is still going on. The Chinese side has already said to Indonesia that we are willing to send aircraft and ships urgently to participate in the search and rescue, and will provide other aid according to Indonesia's needs. As far as I know, we are in close contact with the Indonesian side," the ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a daily briefing.
    The Indonesia AirAsia plane, an Airbus A320-200, did not issue a distress signal and disappeared over the Java Sea five minutes after its pilot failed to get permission to fly higher to avoid bad weather.
    Officials said it could be at the bottom of the sea after it was presumed to have crashed off the Indonesian coast, as countries around Asia sent ships and planes to help in the search effort.
    A senior Indonesian civil aviation source told Reuters that authorities had the flight's radar data and were waiting for search and rescue teams to find debris before they started their investigation into the cause of the accident.
    Onboard Flight QZ8501 were 155 Indonesians, three South Koreans, and one person each from Singapore, Malaysia and Britain. The co-pilot was French.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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