Kuala Lumpur, Mar. 15: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has confirmed that the ill-fated Malaysian Airline passenger jet was deliberately led off its original route.
The prime minister, addressing the media today, said that new satellite data has pointed that the Flight MH 370 was turned back after it took off from Kuala Lumpur enroute to Beijing on Saturday last week.
Razak said that based on the new satellite communications, it could be said with certainty that the Acars (transponder) was disabled before the aircraft reached the east coast of Malaysia.
Despite media reports about a possible hijack, Razak stressed that the data has led the rescue mission into a new phase and the authorities would continue to focus on locating the crew and passengers.
He further announced that he has instructed the foreign ministry to inform the respective governments and the families of those onboard about the new development.
The prime minister further announced that based on the new data they were leading their search from South China sea towards the Indian Ocean.
