District chairman denies statement on MH370 debris discovery
The chairman of a district in the south-central Vietnamese province of Khanh Hoa has rejected a false report that he had claimed a piece of debris recently found in his locality belongs to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Tran Kim Bao, chairman of Van Ninh District, was quoted by Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper as saying on February 20 that he had never mentioned “MH370” when addressing the media about the debris discovery.
A fisherman in the district on February 11 spotted a floating object when he was fishing off the province’s Dai Lanh Beach. The metal piece looks like a part of an airplane, prompting local authorities to investigate to see what it really is.
According to Tien Phong, Bizlive, a Vietnamese-language website, has cited an article from Germany’s DPA news agency, which quoted Bao as saying that “a piece of debris possibly belonging to the Boeing MH370 of Malaysia Airlines has been found in Vietnam.”
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“The report is a big and nonsense lie,” Bao said. “Our officials who examined the object do not have expertise so never would we dare to claim it belongs to which type of airplane.”
Fisherman Le Tan Binh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on February 18 The fisherman collected the object is made of aluminum and weighs approximately 100kg. The widest part of the metal object measures 2.1 meters and the narrowest section is 1.1 meters.
“We have asked Binh to continue take care of the object, pending order from authorized levels,” Bao said.
The beach where Binh found the debris is part of the East Vietnam Sea.
There have been no significant air crashes in nearby areas in recent times, except for the mysterious Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
The flight last made voice contact with air traffic control when it was over the East Vietnam Sea, less than an hour after takeoff.
According to the military unit of Van Ninh District, the object still looks new and is not covered with mosses.
The unit is still investigating to identify the origin of the debris.
In July 2015, DPA also falsely reported the death of Vietnamese Minister of Defense Phung Quang Thanh, and later had to apologize to the minister.
