24-meter-long suspicious object sighted: AMSA

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said on Thursday that two objects possibly related to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight have been spotted, with the large one about 24 meters long.   [Special coverage]

"The objects are relatively indistinct. The indication to me is of objects that are of a reasonable size and probably awash with water and bobbing up and down over the surface," said AMSA official John Young.

"The largest... was assessed as being 24 meters. There is another one that is smaller than that," he added.

Young said that Australia has aircraft on scene to confirm the objects, with more ships and planes on the way to the area in the southern Indian Ocean where the objects were spotted by satellites.

He said that the suspicious objects were found to be 2,500 kilometers southwest of Perth, a southwestern port city of Australia, and their rough position is consistent with the search route.

But it would be difficult to locate the objects due to poor visibility, he said, describing the latest development as "best lead we have."