A piece of debris found off the southeast African coast that could be from a missing Malaysia Airlines flight is being sent to Australia for testing, officials said on 3 March, two years after the plane carrying 239 people disappeared. A white, metre-long chunk of metal was found off the coast of Mozambique in southeast Africa earlier this week by a US adventurer who has been carrying out an independent search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The debris will be tested by officials in Australia, with help from Malaysian authorities and representatives of manufacturer Boeing.
We received the message two days ago, immediately we dispatched a team from Australia. The team, they have their embassy there [Australia], so immediately we can start discussing the detail of recovering the debris. So we would like to get hold the debris as soon as possible. Thats why we are working with Australia, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told a news conference.
We found the flaperon on La Reunion Island, the flaperon belongs to MH370 and we have studied the drifting pattern that the experts have already studied and they actually followed the drifting pattern. It actually landed on Mozambique beach and is actually also following that pattern. But I cant confirm anything now because we need to verify the debris, he added.
The Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre, set up in Australia to coordinate the search, will examine the characteristics of the debris to confirm that it comes from an aircraft and to establish its origin, the agency said in an email. Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing.
