Chinese warship Mianyang has arrived at the waters suspected to be the site of the missing Beijing-bound Malaysian jetliner, military sources said on Monday.

The warship arrived at the waters where the aircraft lost contact at around 3:50 a.m. on Monday, three hours ahead of schedule. It started rescue operations upon its arrival.

Contact with the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was lost along with its radar signal at 1:20 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday when it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam.

The flight was carrying 12 crew members and 227 passengers, including 154 Chinese.

(Xinhua News Agency March 10, 2014)