Flight MH370 Search: Malaysian Authorities Investigate Claim Of Debris Sighted In Philippines

Malaysian officials are investigating reports that a plane crash site was spotted in the southern Phillipines Saturday, Channel NewsAsia reported. Jamil Omar, 46, said his relative had spotted plane wreckage with a Malaysian flag inside on the island of Tawi Tawi.

Authorities have called on the public not to speculate on the claimed sighting until officials are able to carry out an investigation, since past reports of debris sightings have, for the most part, been inaccurate.

"There was no photograph to support the claim," Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Sunday, according to the Sun Daily. "So we have asked our counterpart in the Philippines to check whether there was such wreckage."

Omar also claimed to have seen skeletal remains.

Malaysia airliner MH370 was reported missing with 239 passengers aboard in March 2014 during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. It prompted a massive, multinational search that turned up limited findings. In the first days following the search for the plane, there were numerous reports of debris sightings, but none of those leads yielded results. No traces of the plane were found until late July, when a flaperon from the airliner was discovered on Reunion Island.

An international search, led by Australia, remains under way in a 46,332-square-mile area in the south Indian Ocean, the area where authorities believe the plane likely went down. Malaysia proposed in late September a tripartite meeting with Australia and China to discuss the future direction of the search for the missing airliner.

Families of passengers on the airliner have been extremely critical of the Malaysian government and the airline, charging authorities with failing to adequately inform them on the status of the investigation. Many of the families have sought to pressure authorities to continue the search for their loved ones.