Chinese joint working group arrives in Malaysia

Guo Shaochun (R), head of a joint working group in charge of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight incident, arrives at the International Airport of Kuala Lumpur in Sepang, Malaysia, on March 10, 2014. Chinese government sent a working group Monday morning to Malaysia for handling the aftermath of the missing Malaysian Airlines flight. (Xinhua/Chong Voon Chung)

A working group sent by the Chinese government arrived at Kuala Lumpur International Airport on Monday night to handle the aftermath of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight.  [Special coverage]

The 13-member group is composed of officials with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC).

Guo Shaochun, deputy head of the Department of Consular Affairs with China's Foreign Ministry, said at the airport that the group will start working immediately.

Earlier, he said in Beijing before leaving for Malaysia that the working group has planned to coordinate with Malaysia and other countries to investigate the incident.

China has been making all-out efforts to locate the missing flight MH370 and passengers on board, of whom nearly two-thirds from China.

Earlier in the afternoon, a delegation from the Ministry of Public Security of China arrived at Kuala Lumpur. They are about to help with search and rescue, identifying the passengers who boarded the missing plane with stolen passports and the settlement of family members of the passengers on the plane.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft left Kuala Lumpur International Airport at 0:41 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday and was due to land in Beijing at 6:30 a.m. the same day.

Contact with the flight was lost along with its radar signal at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday when it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam.

The flight was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.