Malaysia spends over 9 mln USD on flight MH370 search operations

Malaysia has so far spent about RM27.6 million (some 9 million U.S. dollars) on search-and- recovery operations for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, a government official said Monday.

Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters that the cost was for food and fuel for five Malaysian agencies that took part in the search.

The five agencies were the Royal Malaysian Airforce, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Police, Fire and Rescue Department and the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.

"The cost that we had to bear is relatively small compared with the other assets given by other countries used in the search", he said.

MH370, carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew, left the KL International Airport for Beijing, China, at 12.41 a.m. on March 8 and disappeared from radar screens about an hour later while over the South China Sea.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak announced on March 24 that Flight MH370 had "ended in the southern Indian Ocean," following analysis of data released by British satellite telecommunications company Inmarsat.

So far, no debris from the aircraft has been spotted.