MELBOURNE, Australia - Authorities in Australia are investigating two objects in the Indian Ocean spotted by satellite imagery that may be related to the missing Malaysian airliner, in what may be the most credible lead in the hunt for the plane that vanished nearly two weeks ago with 239 passengers and crew aboard.
The objects are 'of reasonable size and probably awash with water,' John Young, general manager of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, said during a press conference on Thursday.
Aircraft and ships are traveling to the area to try to locate and examine the objects, one of which has a dimension of 24 meters (almost 80 feet) while the other one was smaller.
Four aircraft have been directed to the area and a U.S. P-8 Poseidon aircraft already is on the scene, Young said.
The area involved is about 1,550 miles southwest of Perth, Australia.
'This is a lead, this is probably the best lead we have right now, but we have to find them, see them, assess them,' Young said of the objects.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott informed Malaysian Prime Minister Dato' Seri Majib Razak of the development on Thursday morning, according to Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian minister of defense and acting minister of transport.
'At this stage, Australian officials have yet to establish whether these objects are indeed related to the search for MH370,' Hussein said in a statement.
A handout from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority shows a map of the search area for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.(Photo: Australian Maritime Safety Authority/epa)
Chinese relatives of missing passengers reacted to the development Thursday with anger at Malaysian authorities, but some still clung to hope their loved ones are alive. 'If something bad really happens, Malaysia cannot avoid its responsibility,' Wang Xuhua wrote on the WeChat group set up relatives. 'They have wasted so many days, at this time things are found in unrelated waters, are they not deceiving everybody in the world?'
Lin Xi wrote: '(Maybe) our family members are safe on some island.' She also said, 'Go to hell Malaysia, you have wasted so many days,' sentiments echoed by many other relatives on the social media network.
Some said Malaysia Airlines representatives had called them Thursday to say the objects found by Australian satellites have not yet been confirmed as belonging to flight MH370.
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While most Chinese relatives and friends have remained at a hotel in Beijing, some have flown to the Malaysian capital to be closer to developments. Their anger and frustration at lack of hard news boiled over in Kuala Lumpur Wednesday when at least three relatives were bundled away by security after trying to protest to journalists covering a daily press conference by the Malaysian authorities.
In a sign of the intense concern in China Thursday, the country's premier television channel, CCTV-1, on the national broadcaster CCTV, interrupted its regular programming at lunchtime to air a live report from its news channel.
MacLeod reported from Beijing. Contributing: Kim Hjelmgaard in London and Melanie Eversley in McLean, Va.
One woman from Shanghai, Wu Xia, asked others on WeChat to stay strong: 'Thirteen days have passed, all kinds of news, like the debris found today, are gouging and cutting our hearts,' she wrote. 'Relatives and friends, let's pray together, we must keep a whole heart to face the waiting and life ahead of us.'
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