Malaysia says evidence of final "ping" from MH370 at 0019 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, March 20 (Reuters) - Satellite data that confirmed a Malaysian jetliner missing for more than two weeks crashed in the Indian Ocean included a final electronic signal that is still being investigated, Malaysian acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said on Tuesday.

"There is evidence of a partial handshake between the aircraft and ground station at 0019 UTC (GMT)," Hishammuddin told a news conference. "At this time, this transmission is not understood and is subject to further ongoing work."

Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Sunday that groundbreaking satellite-data analysis by the British company Inmarsat ISA.L had revealed that Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, which vanished while flying to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, had crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean.

Preliminary analysis of the satellite "pings" had only been able to place the plane's final position in one of two vast arcs stretching from the Caspian Sea to the southern Indian Ocean.

(Writing by Alex Richardson; Editing by Nick Macfie)

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Keywords: MALAYSIA AIRLINES/SATELLITE