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Oil rig worker says he spotted missing MH370 on fire

KUALA LUMPUR — An oil rig worker has emailed Vietnamese authorities to say that he spotted the Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 on fire on March 7 when it went missing, say media reports today (March 13).

The letter from New Zealander Mike McKay. Photo: Bob Woodruff / ABC

The letter from New Zealander Mike McKay. Photo: Bob Woodruff / ABC

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KUALA LUMPUR — An oil rig worker has emailed Vietnamese authorities to say that he spotted the Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 on fire on March 7 when it went missing, say media reports today (March 13).

The oil rig worker, New Zealander Mike McKay, works on the Songa Mercur oil rig in the South China Sea. He had sent an email to his bosses detailing what he saw that night.

In the email Mr McKay said that he “observed the plane burning at high altitude ... in one piece,” about 50km to 70km from his location.

He gave coordinates for the location of the rig, which recently moved from Cuba to the shores of Vietnam.

Mr Doan Huu Gia, deputy general director of Vietnam’s air traffic management, confirmed they had been sent the email, the BBC reported.

“We received an email from a New Zealander who works on one of the oil rigs off Vung Tau.

“He said he spotted a burning (object) at that location, some 300 km south-east of Vung Tau.”

The Vietnamese authorities sent a plane to investigate the sighting, but it found nothing, Vietnamese naval officer Le Ming Thanh told ABC News.

Officials still do not know what went wrong with the aircraft, and several leads pursued so far have proven not to be linked to the plane. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

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