A massive search operation has been launched by South-east Asian states for the Malaysia Airlines plane that vanished on a flight to Beijing today. 239 people including 5 Indians were on board.

Planes and ships joined the search of the Boeing ,which disappeared at 2:40 local time after leaving Kuala Lumpur, when it was over the waters between Malaysia and Vietnam. Malaysia's military said a second wave of helicopters and ships had been despatched after an initial search revealed nothing.

No wreckage has been reported by the airline, but Vietnamese planes reported seeing oil slicks in the sea. The Vietnamese government said two slicks, about 15 kilometres long, were consistent with those that could be left by an airliner and had been detected off southern Vietnam. However, there is no confirmation the slicks relate to the missing plane.

The passengers were of 14 different nationalities. Among them were 152 Chinese nationals, 38 Malaysians, 12 people from Indonesia and six from Australia, besides five Indians.

Chandrika Sharma, a Chennai resident and the Executive Secretary of the International Collective in support of fish workers was among the 239 people on board the Malaysian airlines plane.

AIR Chennai Correspondent says, the fifty one year old Sharma was to participate in the Food and Agriculture Organisation conference which begins today. Worried relatives and colleagues of Sharma gathered at her residence in Chennai.