Malaysia Airlines ‘has lost contact’ with plane carrying 239 people

A Malaysia Airlines flight carrying 239 people bound for Beijing has lost contact with air traffic control after leaving Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur.

According to Reuters, the airline said in a statement that Flight MH370 disappeared Saturday at 2:40 am local time (1840 GMT Friday). The plane, a Boeing 777-200, left Kuala Lumpur just after midnight Saturday, and had been due to arrive in Beijing at 6:30 am local time (2230 GMT Friday).
The carrier said, “Malaysia Airlines is currently working with the authorities who have activated their search and rescue team to locate the aircraft.”
Radar contact with a Malaysian Airlines aircraft that has gone missing on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing was lost in airspace controlled by Vietnam in the early hours of Saturday morning.