Everyone who checked in, boarded flight MH370: Police chief

KUALA LUMPUR — Police today (March 11) dismissed earlier reports of five passengers who had checked in for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 but failed to board the aircraft.

Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said every passenger who had booked a ticket for the flight had boarded the plane. “There were no passengers who checked in for the flight but failed to board.”

Mr Khalid was then asked why his statement contradicted that of the Department of Civil Aviation, which had earlier claimed that there were five passengers who had not boarded MH370.

“I did not issue any statement earlier about any passenger who checked in but failed to board the flight.

“I am now revealing the latest findings made by our investigating team, which is led by CID director Datuk Hadi Ho (Federal CID director Datuk Hadi Ho Abdullah),” he said.

“Let me make it simple, everyone who was supposed to be onboard, was on the flight,” Mr Khalid said when pressed by reporters at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport this afternoon.

Director-general of Civil Aivation Datuk Azharuddin Abdul Rahman had previously told the media that five passengers had checked in for the flight but failed to board. Mr Azharuddin also said that the baggage of the five passengers had been removed prior to take-off as part of standard operating procedure.

“The only person who did not board MH370 was a woman who had mistook the dates and called MAS (Malaysia Airlines) to cancel her booking,” Mr Khalid said.

Asked about the possible causes for MH370’s disappearance, he said police would leave that part of the investigations to the aviation experts.

“We are also going through CCTV (closed-circuit television camera) images taken from the cargo area to ascertain if there are any clues there,” he added.

Director-general of Immigration Aloyah Mamat said its probe had revealed no irregularities or security lapses.

She told reporters that both individuals in possession of stolen Austrian and Italian passports had entered Malaysia about 8pm on Feb 28.

“The Immigration officers who checked their passports had acted in accordance with the department’s SOP.

“The officers verified that the facial characteristics on the passport and the bearers matched.

“They also asked the relevant questions, such as what was the purpose of their visit.” Ms Aloyah said once the officers were satisfied, they issued a social visit visa for 90 days to both individuals.

The passports had been reported stolen from Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel in Thailand several months ago. Ms Aloyah said on March 7 that both individuals were cleared to leave Malaysia by the Immigration officers as their documents and visas were in order. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER