'Bermuda triangle' quip lands Malaysian MP in trouble

A 'Bermuda Triangle' quip by a Malaysian politician has drawn scorn amid anguish over a missing airliner and its 239 passengers.

Opposition politician Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin weighed in on the case of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight by tweeting of a 'new Bermuda triangle'.

In what appeared to be a take on the old theory of aircrafts and ships disappearing in the 'Bermuda Triangle', Nizar said in tweet to television host Piers Morgan, that another such spot has been 'detected' in Vietnam waters' and that sophisticated devices are of no use.

The tweet quickly generated a slew of negative comments towards Nizar calling him 'stupid' for making an insensitive comment in the face of a possible tragedy.

Meanwhile planes and ships from south-east Asian states have joined forces to search the South China Sea for a Malaysia Airlines jet, missing with 239 people on board.

Flight MH370 vanished at 18:40 GMT Friday (02:40 local time Saturday) after leaving Kuala Lumpur for Beijing, where it was expected at 22:30 GMT.

The aerial search has been halted for the night, but sea operations continue.

No wreckage has been reported by the airline, but Vietnamese planes reported seeing oil slicks in the sea.