KUALA LUMPUR, March 10 -- The Malaysian authorities are working closely with the Chinese government in handling matters related to the missing Malaysian Airlines aircraft, said an official here Monday.

Hishamuddin Hussein, acting minister of transportation, said he just met with a delegation from China following his conversation with the Chinese leadership Sunday night.

He said the delegation, from China's Ministry of Public Security, came here to help with the search and rescue operation, offering support to family members of the passengers and identifying those passengers with false passports.

Hussein noted that the Chinese delegation's involvement does not mean the two passengers boarding with false passports are Chinese. The closed-circuit television videos concerning the two passengers had been given to intelligence agencies for investigation, he added.

The acting minister appealed to the media not to report unverified and false information which would be unfair to the families of the passengers and distract the search and rescue operation.

The missing Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777-200ER carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew lost contact with air traffic controllers off the eastern Malaysia coast on Saturday wee hours.