KUALA LUMPUR, March 8 -- The unconfirmed fate of a Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines plane carrying 239 people has left families of those on board on edge, as they anxiously wait for any news from the multinational search and rescue efforts launched to locate the missing aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines is arranging the transport of families to the last known site of the missing flight MH370, requiring up to two relatives per passenger with passports to check in at Kuala Lumpur International Airport before 6 p.m. The destination does not appear to have been disclosed.

Xinhua reporters at the airport saw relatives of the passengers continuing to arrive, where police have set up a restricted area for them and kept the media at a distance.

The missing plane made its last contact about 200 km east of the Malaysian town of Kota Baru, according to Malaysia Airlines group chief executive Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

Malaysian transport authorities said no sign of any plane wreckage has been discovered and denied earlier media reports that the plane had crashed south of an island off Vietnam.

"We are looking for accurate information from the Malaysian military. They are waiting for information from the Vietnamese side," Malaysian Transport Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said.

Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines said it is working with international authorities on the search and rescue mission for the Boeing B777-200 aircraft, which went missing Saturday morning.

Malaysia, Vietnam, China and the Philippines are all conducting search and rescue missions, with China sending two maritime rescue ships to the South China Sea.

In Beijing, some 120 relatives and friends, with more still en route, gathered at a hotel conference room in hope of further news on their beloved ones aboard the plane.

Cries and tears gripped the Lido Hotel as people waited for news. Many relatives just sat on the floor, while some shocked family members fainted and were led to hotel rooms to rest. Some said they would fly to Vietnam to look for their loved ones.

The aircraft carrying 239 people departed Kuala Lumpur at 0:21 a.m. local time (1621GMT) and was scheduled to land in the Chinese capital at 6:30 a.m.(2230GMT) the same day.

Malaysian Airlines unveiled on its website a list of the 227 passengers on board besides a crew of 12.

The list comprises of 154 Chinese, 38 Malaysians, seven Indonesians, six Australians, five Indians, four Americans, three French, two New Zealanders, two Ukrainians, two Canadians, one Russian, one Italian, one Dutch and one Austrian.

The flight was piloted by Malaysian Captain Zahaire Ahmad Shah, 53, who has a total of 18,365 flying hours. He joined Malaysia Airlines in 1981.

The first officer, Fariq Ab. Hamid, 27, also a Malaysian, has a total of 2,763 flying hours and also joined the airline in 1981, the company said.

Earlier, Vietnam's Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper quoted Rear Admiral Ngo Van Phat, political commissar of the Fifth Naval Region as saying that the missing aircraft had crashed into waters off Vietnam's southern Phu Quoc Island. The information has not been confirmed by any authorities.