Search expands for missing Malaysia plane

The search area for the missing plane has now expanded as far north as central Asia.. Credit: ITV News

Search teams from 26 different countries are now looking for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which disappeared over a week ago with 239 people on board.

The search area is now vast, arcing from as far north as Kazakhstan to the Indian Ocean west of Australia over a 30 million square mile area.

ITV News China Correspondent Lucy Watson reports from Kuala Lumpur.

There has been speculation over a link between the plane's pilot's anti-government views and the disappearance of the aircraft.

But a friend of Zaharie Ahmad Shah told ITV News he was just a "normal, typical Malaysian" who was not "obsessed" with politics.

The Malaysian transport minister also rejected suggestions that his government had not responded adequately to concerns raised by the families of those on board.

Read Govt receiving increasing criticism over search for plane

The search will begin again tomorrow morning.