MH 370 mystery deepens: Highly inflammable lithium batteries in plane cargo reignite fire speculation

Kuala Lumpur: Four days after denying it, Malaysian officials have at last confirmed that a consignment of highly inflammable lithium-ion batteries was in the cargo hold of the missing flight MH370. The admission by CEO re-ignited the speculation that a fire may have caused the disappearance of the plane. Meanwhile, CEO of Malaysian Airlines Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said that the authorities were investigating the cargo, but did not regard the batteries as hazardous. “These are not regarded as dangerous goods,” Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, “and were packed as recommended by the International Civil Aviation Organisation.” He insisted they were checked several times to ensure they complied with the guidelines. 'Airlines do that all the time, it is not just Malaysia Airlines. These goods are being flown by many airlines as cargo anyway, (which) is based on ICAO’s ruling,' he added. Lithium-ion batteries - which are used in mobile phones and laptops - have caused around 140 mid-air accidents in the last 20 years. According to a report in Daily Mail, “In rare cases, aircraft have been destroyed as a result of fires started from the devices, although they have been cargo planes in both incidents. In one case, UPS Airlines Flight 6 crashed while attempting an emergency landing in September 2010 en route from Dubai to Cologne in Germany.” It may be recalled that what Ahmad Jauhari said four days ago was something else. When asked at a press conference if there was any dangerous cargo on board, he replied: 'We had a load of mangosteens headed to China. It was a large quantity - about three to four tonnes of mangosteens,' he said to laughter from the media. There were reports on Friday that a Norwegian ship had reached the area of search in the Indian Ocean after possible debris was spotted by Australia. The Royal Australian Air Force has also dispatched an aircraft to the designated spot. The plane has not been relay any possible information due to poor visibility owing to bad weather. However, the exhaustive search operation for the MH370 has resumed in a much clearer weather, with air teams joined by both military and commercial ships as officials scramble to cover the search area. About 26 nations are currently looking for the missing plane. Aircraft and ships scoured the seas around 2,500kilometres off the coast of the Australian city of Perth, for 10 hours before darkness fell.