Two men who who used stolen travel documents to board Malaysian Airlines jet that disappeared last Saturday were caught by surveillance cameras, and were not Asian in appearance as initially suggested by authorities.
"We confirmed now they are not Asian-looking males," said Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, who serves as the chief of Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation. Abdul Rahman spoke at a press conference on Monday.
"The two men were traveling on flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on Italian and Austrian passports that were later confirmed to have been lost or stolen. They were then scheduled to fly together to Amsterdam before catching separate connecting flights to Copenhagen and Frankfurt," as reported in HaAretz.
The disappareance of the jetliner is being described by a senior official as an "unprecedented aviation mystery," and the air and sea search of the 227 passengers and 12 crew members onboard remains unabated ever since last Saturday when reports surfaced that Flight MH370 had disappeared. A hijacking attempt still has not been ruled out as the possible cause.
"Unfortunately, we have not found anything that appears to be objects from the aircraft, let alone the aircraft. As far as we are concerned, we have to find the aircraft, we have to find a piece of the aircraft if possible," added Azahruddin at the press conference.
The New York Daily News said investigators reviewed surveillance footage taken at the Kuala Lumpur airport 'from check in right to departure' and confirmed that security protocols were followed, despite reports that the two men boarded with stolen passports.
"A senior source involved in preliminary investigations in Malaysia said the failure to quickly find any debris indicated the plane may have been broken up mid-flight, which could disperse wreckage over a very wide area," HaAretz also reported.
The two men had their stolen tickets arranged through a travel agency in Thailand by an Iranian man, merely known as "Mr. Ali." The information was provided to the newspaper by the Thai travel agent in Pattaya, Thailand, who booked their tickets.
The Financial Times quoted Benjaporn Krutnait, the owner of the Grand Horizon travel agency, as saying, "the Iranian had asked her to book the two men to travel to Europe on March 1, specifying that she find them cheap tickets. She initially booked them on two separate flights, one on Qatar Airways and another on Etihad airline, but the tickets expired before she heard again from an Iranian."
"After he contacted her on Thursday, she rebooked the men on the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, though he Iranian again did not specify" as for which flight. "This time a friend of the Iranian paid in cash. Benjaporn then arranged for a larger agency, Six Stars Travel, to issue the tickets, according to Thai police," NBC News reported.
The Financial Times also reported that it was unable to reach "Mr. Ali" via cell phone. Benjaporn said she knew Mr. Ali for about three years while in Pattaya. There is no evidence, however, that the Iranian knew the two men were traveling on stolen passports, according to The Financial Times.
