Satellite spots 300 objects near search area for Malaysian plane

BANGKOK (AP):

A Thai satellite has detected about 300 objects floating in the Indian Ocean near the search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner, officials said on Thursday.

Anond Snidvongs, director of Thailand's space technology development agency, said the images showed "300 objects of various sizes" in the southern Indian Ocean about 2,700 kilometres (1,675 miles) southwest of Perth, Australia.

Some of the objects were estimated at up to 16 metres (52 feet) long, he said.

The images were taken by the Thaichote satellite on Monday, took two days to process, and were relayed to Malaysian authorities on Wednesday.

Anond says the objects were about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the area where a French satellite on Sunday spotted 122 objects. It remains uncertain whether the objects are from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared March 8 with 239 people aboard.