Malaysia Airlines today said, it was fearing the worst for its missing plane carrying 239 people and was working with a US company that specialises in disaster recovery to locate the ill-fated aircraft. The plane had 227 passengers on board, including five Indians and one Indian-origin Canadian, and 12 crew members.

Officials from Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation today said they have dispatched three jets to join the massive search by six countries for Boeing 777-200 Flight MH370. They said the search effort continued overnight to locate the missing plane.

But the mission made little progress as they have not traced any wreckage or debris afloat. Department of Civil Aviation Director-general Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said, reports of the sightings of the fuel slicks out at the South China Sea was unverified.

Commenting on how the names of the Austrian and Italian passengers, whose passports had reportedly been stolen, were on the passenger list, Azharuddin said, authorities are aware of the issue and are carrying out an investigation.