Malaysia said Sunday that airplane debris that washed up on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been identified as being from a Boeing 777, the same model as Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 which vanished early last year, Reuters reports.
“We know the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft,” Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement.
“This has been verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Malaysian team comprising the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airlines, and Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370,” Lai said.
Meanwhile, several pieces of ‘metallic debris’ have been discovered on La Reunion island sparking speculation it may be the first tangible evidence that a Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into Indian Ocean, a source close to the ongoing investigation told AFP Sunday.
Investigators on the Indian Ocean island took the debris into evidence as part of their probe into the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, although nothing indicated that it came from an air plane, the source said.
An AFP photographer saw police collect one piece of debris, measuring about 100 square centimetres (15 square inches), on the north of the island early Sunday.
Police placed the debris — which has a sort of handle partially covered by leather and is inscribed with two ideograms — in an iron case.
Sky News too reported about the object washed up on Reunion Island.
Sky’s David Bowden said the object had Chinese and Malaysian writing on it and was thought to be from the inside of an aircraft.
Bowden said he approached the officers on Reunion and was told: “No comment.”