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FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2014
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LOST PASSPORTS AT CENTRE OF PLANE DRAMA
LIFE
LIFE PAGE 4
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Italian tourist Luigi Maraldi, 37, met with Phuket Police on Sunday, March 9 to discuss his passport that was stolen on the island in 2013, and then used by an Iranian man posing as him to board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Anthika Muangrod & Eakkapop Thongtub reporter4@classactmedia.co.th
T
wo passports that went missing in Phuket have become the centre of a police investigation after they were used by passengers on board the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which is presumed crashed after it lost all contact on Saturday (March 8).
The spotlight is now on Phuket as both Thai and international authorities try to establish if and how the stolen passports are connected to the fate of the missing plane, and if they are possibly indicative of a wider crime network, or “passport ring” based on the island. Italian Luigi Maraldi and Austrian Christian Kozel had their passports go missing on the island in 2012 and 2013, respectively; Mr Maraldi’s
was given away to someone else in a botched motorbike rental incident, while Mr Kozel’s went missing. Interpol identified the Iranian pair who boarded the flight as Seyed Mohammed Reza Delavar, who used Mr Maraldi’s passport, and Pouria Nourmohammadi, who used Mr Kozel’s (see photo on page 2). Authorities have said they believe the Iranian pair were illegal immigrants who were on their way to
Europe via Beijing. The flight tickets were purchased in Pattaya. Coincidently, Mr Maraldi was in Phuket on holiday again when family and friends contacted him at the weekend, after he was named as a passenger on board the flight. He reassured them he had never purchased a ticket, and was safe and well. He was interviewed by Phuket Police on Sunday as news of the stolen passports emerged.
SPORT
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