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Muktesh Mukherjee, Xiaomo Bai Identified As Canadians On Missing Malaysia Airlines Flight

Canadians On Board Missing Plane Identified

Malaysia Airlines has released the identities of the passengers and crew on board missing flight MH370, including two Canadians.

Muktesh Mukherjee, 42, and Xiaomo Bai, 37, are among the 227 passengers and 12 Malaysian crew members unaccounted for on board a Boeing 777-200 jet that disappeared from radar Saturday morning. Malaysia Airlines released the full manifest online; the passengers are from 14 different nationalities.

Both Canadians' Facebook pages have listed their current city as Beijing. Mukherjee's Linkedin Page has also pegged him as the vice president of China operations for Xcoal Energy & Resources. Ernie Thrasher, the company's CEO, confirmed with the Huffington Post Canada that Mukherjee and Bai are married, and some of the photos on the couple's profiles have suggested they have two children.

The airline says Subang Air Traffic Control lost contact with the plane at 2:40 a.m. local time Saturday. Flight MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur at 12:41 a.m. Saturday and was bound for Beijing, scheduled to land at Beijing International Airport at 6:30 a.m. Beijing time.

The plane "lost all contact and radar signal one minute before it entered Vietnam's air traffic control,'' Lt. Gen. Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of staff of the Vietnamese army, said in a statement.

As Malaysia Airlines sought to inform passengers' families and next of kin, search and rescue teams were deployed Saturday morning. Teams from Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam did not find any evidence of a plane wreckage, according to the airline. Officials called off the search until Sunday morning due to poor visibility at night, the South China Morning Post reports.

Two large oil slicks consistent with that of a downed plane were discovered Saturday near the southern tip of Vietnam, according to The Associated Press .

The hashtag #prayformh370 has been trending worldwide following news of the plane's disappearance, with many people praying for the best outcome for missing family members.

In Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper also expressed his condolences for everyone missing on board.

This is a developing story. Please check back later for more developments

With Files From The Associated Press

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