Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that it has lost contact with one of its flights, carrying 239 people.

The flight departed from Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur at 00:41 a.m on March 8, and was expected to land in Beijing at 6.30 a.m today. According to the airline, flight MH370 lost contact with Subang Air Traffic Control in the early morning today, and there were 227 passengers on board including 2 infants and 12 crew members.

Reports say there were 160 Chinese citizens on board, and plane last contacted an air traffic control center in Vietnam. Malaysia Airlines is currently working with an official search and rescue team to locate the aircraft.