KUALA LUMPUR - Chinese satellite images that were said to show debris from a missing Malaysian airliner were released by mistake, Malaysia's transport minister says.
Hishammuddin Hussein also denied a US report that the plane might have flown for hours after contact was lost with the Boeing 777.
Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing went missing late on Friday, with 239 passengers and crew on board.
The minister said the disappearance of the plane was unprecedented.
Mr Hussein told reporters at Kuala Lumpur International Airport that the Chinese embassy in Kuala Lumpur had said Beijing's satellite images were released by mistake and "did not show any debris from MH370".
The grainy satellite images were released by China's State Administration of Science on Wednesday.
Mr Hussein said efforts to locate the aircraft were ongoing, promising to "spare nothing in our efforts to find MH370".
"There are currently 43 ships and 40 aircraft searching the South China Sea and Straits of Malacca" he said.