Pakistan's top aviation official today dismissed suggestions that the missing Malaysian airliner with 239 people on board could have potentially reached as far as this country.
"It's wrong, plane never came towards Pakistan," Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Aviation Shujaat Azeem said in response to some media reports that suggested that the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 could have reached as far as Pakistan.
"Pakistan's civil aviation radars never spotted this jet," he was quoted as saying by Dawn.
Azeem said the plane disappeared far away from Pakistani air space and was not visible on its radars, "so how it could be hidden somewhere in Pakistan."
Azeem said his division was on alert and following all developments related to the incident.
"At present there are 95 ships of various countries in the Indian Ocean on search mission," Azeem said.
"No one among those who are on search mission has contacted us to seek information on this tragedy," he told the daily. The advisor said that civil aviation would provide full cooperation when sought from Pakistan.
He said Pakistan's national carrier has sent a message to Malaysia airlines expressing sympathies with the relatives of those who have gone missing.
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak today said communications aboard the missing jet were switched off and its course deliberately changed by someone on board before the aircraft disappeared a week ago. But the premier stopped short of saying the plane had been hijacked.
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