Military verifying reports of MH-370 wreckage, human remains in Tawi-Tawi

From the Philippine News Agency (Oct 12): Military verifying reports of MH-370 wreckage, human remains in Tawi-Tawi

The military on Monday said it is verifying a report that the wreckage of ill-fated Malaysian Airlines Flight MH-370 as well as human remains were seen at Ubian Island in Tawi-Tawi province.

Unconfirmed reports claim that some bird hunters were able to locate plane parts and skeletal remains of passengers and crew members of the aircraft in a remote part of the island.

Naval Task Force 61 head Capt. Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said a gunboat has been deployed off the island on Sunday to talk with fishermen and residents regarding the report.

"So far, our questionings have determined that island residents have no knowledge of (a plane crashing in their locality)," Bacordo said in Filipino.

He said even long-time residents of the island could not recall seeing or hearing reports of plane wreckage or human remains being found in the remote parts of their locality.

"They were surprised by this report and were asking us on where it came from," he added.

Bacordo said the crew is still in the area and conducting interviews with the residents.

The plane, a Boeing 777-200 aircraft coded as flight MH370, lost contact with the air traffic control in Kuala Lumpur 2:40 a.m. on March 8, 2014.

Flight MH370 left Kuala Lumpur 12:41 a.m. for Beijing, China. The flight, piloted by Malaysian Capt. Zaharie Ahmad Shah, was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members.

The passengers are citizens from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, France, the US, New Zealand, Ukraine, Canada, Russia, Italy, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and Austria.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=1&sid=&nid=1&rid=814116