AKIPRESS.COM - Malaysia police chief said Wednesday Flight MH370 probe was classified as a criminal investigation, People's Daily reported.

“We are investigating the four areas of focus, namely, personal and psychological problems, sabotage and hijacking,” Malaysian Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said.

He said until now there had been about 170 statements recorded from family members of the passengers and crew on board the missing jetliner.

Khalid said the investigators did have some clues of what happened, but they would not reveal anything as the investigation was ongoing.

Searches for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 came at a critical time, as they must gear up their hunt for the aircraft's black box.

It is presumed that the black box will run out of battery power around April 7, or April 12 at the latest, and its signal will then vanish.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is scheduled to visit the western Australian port city of Perth on Wednesday for the ongoing search for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Meanwhile, the designated search area for Wednesday is closer to the western Australian coast, now about 1,490 km northwest of Perth, according to the latest information from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).