Plane
wreckage containing 'many skeletons' and painted with the Malaysian
flag has reportedly been found in the Philippines, prompting speculation
it could be missing Flight MH370.
Police
confirmed they had received reports of the discovery in thick jungle on
the remote island of Sugbai in Tawi-Tawi province.
An
audio technician, Jamil Omar, contacted police in Malaysia to say his
aunt, Siti Kayam, had stumbled upon the wreckage while she and others
were hunting for birds.
Police
commissioner Jalaludin Abdul Rahman, based in neighbouring Borneo, said
the woman claimed she climbed into the smashed fuselage and saw
skeletons.
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Speculation
grew that the wreckage could belong to the missing Malaysia Airlines
flight that disappeared in March last year with 239 people on board.
Police
remain reserved about the report, mindful of confirmation by French
authorities that part of an aircraft wing – a flaperon – found on the
island of Reunion in the west of the Indian Ocean earlier this year had
been confirmed as being from MH370.
It
would be unlikely that the flaperon had been able to drift from the
Philippines to Reunion, given that land – Borneo, the Malaysian mainland
and parts of Indonesia – would be in the way.
Police
remain reserved about the report, mindful of confirmation by French
authorities that part of an aircraft wing – a flaperon – found on the
island of Reunion in the west of the Indian Ocean earlier this year had
been confirmed as being from MH370
Police received reports of the discovery in jungle on the island of Sugbai in Tawi-Tawi province (above)
However,
police are understood to have not dismissed the possibility that the
flaperon could have broken off from the aircraft after it took off in
March last year to fly from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, the missing part
causing the pilots problems in handling the jet.
Adding
to the general mystery is the report by oil rig worker Mike McKay who
told the Mail exclusively earlier this year that he stood by his
observation of an 'aircraft on fire' as he stood at night on his rig off
the southern tip of Vietnam.
For
MH370 to have come down on remote Sugbai island, it would have had to
divert from its north east course after take off and head due east
towards the lower Philippines islands.
A
catastrophic disaster, an explosion, a fire, or even a hijacking, could
have resulted in it veering around the skies, experts have said.
Australian,
Malaysian and Chinese authorities have been sharing information based
on satellite signals that have resulted in an intensive search of waters
south west of Australia in the southern Indian Ocean.
Despite
high-tech scouring of the waters and the ocean floor, there has been no
sign of the plane in that area, the only discovery confirmed as being
from the aircraft being the flaperon found earlier this year on Reunion.
Whether
the mystery of the plane's final resting place along with its 239
passengers and crew will be solved with the latest report of 'wreckage'
is expected to be known within the next day or so.
Police
in Sabah, in northern Borneo, confirmed that Mr Omar had called in at
the police headquarters to personally lodge a report about the
wreckage.
It would be unlikely that the flaperon
(above) had been able to drift from the Philippines to Reunion, given
that land – Borneo, the Malaysian mainland and parts of Indonesia –
would be in the way
Mr
Jamil, who produced his identity card to police, said his aunt had not
been able to provide the information earlier because there were no
facilities on the island.
'So my aunt came to see me,' Mr Jamil told the police.
In
his official report, Mr Omar said the nephew and his friends went into
the wreckage 'and found many human skeletons and bones,' a report on
freemalaysiatoday.com stated.
The
site added: 'There was a skeleton still in the pilot's seat. The pilot
had his safety belt on and the communication gear attached to his head
and ears.'
A
naval task force which landed on the Philippines island reported later
today that initial checks with villagers on the island had failed to
confirm the report.
Captain
Giovanni Bacordo, commander of Naval Task Force 61, said a team of men
on a gunboat had been sent to investigate the report but could not add
any new information.
'We
interviewed the people at the Sugbai Island (also known as Sugbay) -
the fishermen - but they have no knowledge of it,' said Captain Bacordo.
'If
we are too check thoroughly it has to be a deliberate effort. It's a
big island, 3.5 miles long, but we did an initial investigation with the
populace,' he told Philippines media.
Further investigations are to involve Mr Omar, 46, and his his aunt.
An
officer admitted that if it was a hoax call, it did not make sense that
Mr Omar should have given police his name and that of his aunt.
