Maldives islanders 'saw low-flying jet the morning MH370 disappeared'

The Maldives consist of 1,190 small coral islands grouped
The Maldives consist of 1,190 small coral islands grouped



Locals on a tiny island in the Maldives claim they saw a low-flying plane the morning Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March last year.

Kudahuvadhoo residents reported witnessing "a low-flying jumbo jet" the day the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing vanished.

According to The Australian, some of the locals do not understand why investigators involved in the search have not visited them to hear first-hand about the large plane they say they saw.

They say they saw distinctive red and blue markings, similar to the stripes on the missing plane.

Ahmed Shiyaam, 34, an IT manager, said: "I'm very sure of what I saw on a very clear and bright day, and what I saw was not normal- the plane was very big, and low. I did not know until later that other people saw it too. I don't know if it's the Malaysia plane."

Ahmed Ibrahim, 40, saw it from his garden and said: "This was not a normal sight - the plane was different. It was very big, very noisy, flying low. Later that afternoon on the beach I was told the news about the missing plane. I think this is the same flight."

According to the Daily Mail, the Maldives National Defence Force released a statement after MH370's disappearance which denied there had been any aircrafts in the area at the time. But locals say this was an attempt to hide the limitations of their radar facilities.

Speaking to Haveeru, one witness said: "I've never seen a jet flying so low over our island before. We've seen seaplanes, but I'm sure that this was not one of those. I could even make out the doors on the plane clearly."

Meanwhile, scientists from Curtin University's Centre for Marine Science and Technology say they cannot rule out the possibility that a distinctive high-energy noise they measured around the time of the presumed crash might have been the sound of the plane hitting the ocean in an area near the Maldives.

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