Who Are Pouria Nourmohammadi and Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar? Malaysia Airlines Passengers Traveling With Stolen Passports Identified

The two men who boarded missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 with stolen passports have been identified by authorities as Pouria Nourmohammadi, 19, and Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, 29, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Authorities believe that both men were trying to migrate to Europe on the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing early Saturday morning.

Nourmohammadi’s mother waited for him in Frankfurt, Germany, and contacted police after the flight was reported missing. Authorities believe he did not have terrorist connections. “We believe he does not have any links to terrorism, and we believe he was just trying to migrate to Germany,’’ Malaysian Police Inspector General Khalid Abu Bakar said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Initially, Delavar wasn’t named by authorities. But Interpol later identified him as the second man traveling with a stolen passport. He was also believed to be attempting to immigrate to Europe. The two looked as if they were friends when they boarded the aircraft together, but Delavar’s final destination was Copenhagen, not Germany.

Time’s website reports that the final status update on Nourmohammadi’s Facebook page revealed that the teen was “feeling excited.” He had previously hinted on his page that he would be taking a major trip out of Iran, and he informed friends that he would be deactivating his account. When Nourmohammadi again posted to his account, many of his friends were surprised to realize that he had exited Iran and was posting images from Kuala Lumpur.

The two men traveled to Malaysia using their Iranian passports. They then switched to their stolen Austrian and Italian documents ahead of the Malaysian Airlines flight.

The search continues for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, but no parts of the plane have been officially found. The Boeing 777 had 239 people on board when it disappeared Saturday.