The search zone for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 will be doubled if nothing is found in the huge undersea area now being scanned for wreckage, government officials from Malaysia, Australia and China said Thursday.

A joint statement released by the officials after a meeting in Kuala Lumpur said the Indian Ocean search zone would be expanded to 120,000 square kilometres (46,300 square miles) if the current area comes up empty.

Flight MH370 dropped off the radar on March 8 last year as it flew from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 227 passengers and 12 crew on board.

The Boeing 777 aircraft has yet to be found, even after an exhaustive search in the southern Indian Ocean where it is believed to have gone down after veering off course.



(MORE TO COME)