HANOI: Vietnam has decided to end the search mission for a missing Malaysian jet after it was informed that Malaysia has decided to end searching operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the South China Sea, a senior military officer said at Vietnam's National Committee for Search and Rescue here on Saturday.
Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of the general staff of Vietnam People's Army, told reporters the decision was made after Vietnam received information from Vietnamese ambassador to Malaysia Saturday afternoon, that Malaysia had decided to end searching in the South China Sea, China's Xinhua news agency reported.
Do Ba Ty, chief of the general staff of Vietnam People's Army and deputy defence minister, announced the decision at a meeting held at the headquarters of the Defence Ministry upon consideration of the information.
The Straits Times reported that the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has recalled its ships and aircraft there from the South China Sea.
Since March 8, the SAF has supported the operation in the South China Sea with a C-130 aircraft, a Formidable-class frigate, a Victory-class missile corvette as well as a submarine support and rescue vessel with divers on board.
These ships and aircraft along with SAF personnel have been called back to Singapore.
The SAF will continue to support the search operation in the Malacca Strait with a RSAF patrol aircraft, which was deployed to Butterworth Air Base in Malaysia on Friday
Flight MH370 enroute to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board disappeared suddenly early last Saturday about an hour after taking off from the KL International Airport at 12.41 am.
It was scheduled to arrive in Beijing at 6.30 am the same day.
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