Michael Sullivan

For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai, Thailand.

There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members aboard flight MH370 when it took off from the Malaysian capital bound for Beijing and vanished.

There have been several unsuccessful efforts to locate the aircraft since, the most recent suspended in April.

The new search will begin at the end of this month.

Debris from the aircraft has washed up on the eastern shore of Africa.

Why it went down remains a mystery.

Malaysia's transport ministry says the search will resume on December 30th.

MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it simply vanished from radar.

There have been several extensive and costly search operations conducted since, with no luck.

The firm that will conduct the search wouldn't say precisely where it's looking, only that it would start in, quote, a targeted area assessed to have the highest probability of locating the aircraft.

Debris from the plane has washed up on the eastern shore of Africa.

Why the plane went down remains a mystery.

For NPR News, I'm Michael Sullivan in Chiang Rai.

Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all.

The more towns and villages the authorities in Sumatra reach, the higher the death toll climbs.

Three provinces have been hardest hit by the flooding triggered by the latest tropical storm this week, cutting off roads, damaging bridges, and downing communications links.

Relief teams are using helicopters and fixed-winged aircraft to deliver aid where possible to areas inaccessible by road.

Hundreds of people remain missing, with nearly a quarter million displaced.

In Thailand, the Ministry of Public Health says deaths related to flooding there have reached 170.

Tropical storms have killed nearly 1,000 people in the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia this month.