Fresh sightings of 122 objects

[SINGAPORE] As the hunt for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft homed in on the southern part of the Indian Ocean yesterday, word emerged of fresh sightings of 122 objects that could have come from the ill-fated jet.

These leads were based on new satellite images taken on Sunday by the France-based Airbus Defence and Space and provided to the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency (MRSA) on Tuesday for analysis, said Malaysia's Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein at a briefing yesterday.

MRSA's analysis identified 122 objects, ranging from one metre to 23 metres in length; some appeared to be bright, indicating solid materials. They were spotted in an area of the ocean measuring 400 sq km, 2,557 km from Perth, Australia.