China's Ministry of Public Security has decided to send a work team to Malaysia to investigate two people using stolen passports to board a Beijing-bound plane that has been missing.

The decision followed Interpol's confirmation that two passengers boarded the plane operated by the Malaysian Airlines with stolen passports and was made after a consultation with the Malaysian side that called for a joint investigation into the matter, said the ministry late Sunday.

Contact with 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 9, 2014)