BEIJING - Chinese divers and salvagers sent by the Ministry of Transport are on their way to the sea area where the missing Beijing-bound Malaysia Airlines jet is suspected to have fallen into.

The emergency team is expected to arrive in Sanya city of South China's Hainan province Sunday morning and get on board a vessel bound for the sea area.

The MH370 flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing was carrying 239 passengers and crew from 14 countries and regions, including 154 Chinese.

Contact with the flight was lost along with its radar signal at 1:20 am Beijing time on Saturday when it was flying over the Ho Chi Minh air traffic control area in Vietnam.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft left the Malaysian capital at 00:41 am (Beijing Time) on Saturday, and was expected to land in Beijing at 6:30 am the same day, according to Malaysia Airlines.

A work team of Malaysia Airlines is on its way to Beijing in two flights to handle the case. The first flight is scheduled to arrive at around 10:20 pm while the second around 0:42 am Sunday.

Meanwhile, staff of Air China are still attending to the passengers' families in Beijing's Lido Hotel.