Malaysia says debris is from the same type of aircraft as MH370

Source:Global Times Published: 2015-8-3 1:38:08

The Malaysian authorities said Sunday that debris found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion came from a Boeing 777, the same type of plane as missing flight MH370, and that more wreckage that is suspected to be from the plane has been found.

"This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing," Liow Tiong Lai, Malaysia's transport minister, said on Sunday.

A wing flap suspected to have come from the long-missing MH370 was found on a beach in the island's St Andre area last Wednesday.

The wing part arrived at a French laboratory on Saturday for analysis.

Experts will determine whether the debris is from MH370 and a French prosecutor was quoted by CNN as saying that the work which aims to conclusively identify the piece of wreckage will begin Wednesday.

Experts from various nations have teamed up to help with the probe.

In addition to French officials, experts from Malaysia, China, the US National Transportation Safety Board and Boeing are taking part in the investigation.

The second piece of wreckage, suspected to be one of the doors of MH370, was discovered south of the city of St Denis and has writing on it, CNN reported.

A "metal object of interest" related to the search was discovered Sunday morning on the beach near St. Denis, Reunion's capital, a local government official said.

The object reportedly has Chinese and Malaysian writing on it and was originally thought to be from the inside of an aircraft.

However a Malaysian official later told the Reuters news agency that the object came from an ordinary ladder, and is not a plane part.

Malaysian officials said they are reaching out to authorities in territories near Reunion to allow experts to conduct more substantive analysis should more debris surface.

In addition to the wing flap and the unidentified metal object, other debris that washed ashore Thursday appears to resemble the remnants of a suitcase, local police officials said.

The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysaid to Beijing in March 2014.

A total of 154 Chinese people were on the plane when the accident took place.

Posted in: Asia-Pacific

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