(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Investigators probing missing flight MH370 collected more debris on an Indian Ocean island yesterday as Malaysia urged authorities in the region to be on alert for wreckage washing up on their shores.
Locals on La Reunion island have been combing the shores since a Boeing 777 wing part was found last Wednesday, sparking fevered speculation that it may be the first tangible evidence that the Malaysia Airlines plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.
However authorities cast doubt on whether the new debris was linked to MH370, and a source close to the investigation in Paris said "no object or debris likely to come from a plane" had been placed into evidence yesterday.
The debris, measuring about 100 square centimetres (15 square inches), was placed into an iron case.
Also yesterday a man handed police a piece of debris measuring 70 centimetres (27 inches), guessing it was part of a plane door.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said civil aviation authorities were reaching out to their counterparts in other Indian Ocean territories to be on the lookout for further debris.
"This is to allow the experts to conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming onto land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft."
He also confirmed in a statement that the wing part found Wednesday on the French island had been "officially identified" as from a Boeing 777 - making it virtually certain that it was from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
While the wing part - known as a flaperon - has been sent to France for further analysis, locals on La Reunion are scouring the beach for more debris in what a French source close to the investigation likened to a "treasure hunt".
The discovery came after a gruelling 16-month search. The flight's mysterious disappearance, which saw it vanish off radars as a key transponder appeared to have been shut off, has baffled aviation experts and grieving families and given rise to a myriad conspiracy theories.
Speculation on the cause of the plane's disappearance has focused primarily on a possible mechanical or structural failure, a hijacking or terror plot, or rogue pilot action.
Malaysia's deputy transport minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said that the Boeing 777 wing part "could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean." "I believe that we are moving closer to solving the mystery of MH370," he said.
Four Malaysian officials including the head of civil aviation are in Paris together with officials from Malaysia Airlines for a meeting on Monday with three French magistrates and an official from France's civil aviation investigating authority BEA.
Australian search authorities leading the hunt for the aircraft some 4,000 kilometres (2,500 miles) from La Reunion are confident the main debris field is in their current search area.
Experts hope the 2-2.5 metre (6.5-8 feet) wing surface, known as a flaperon, and a fragment of luggage also found on Reunion could yield clues on the fate of Flight MH370, which
disappeared without trace in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Discovery of the debris may finally confirm MH370 crashed into the sea after veering off course from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, helping to end 16 months of lingering uncertainty for relatives of the passengers and crew.
Investigators believe someone deliberately switched off MH370's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course.
The debris will be analysed at a lab staffed by 600 experts that is operated by the French defence ministry. The luggage fragment has been sent to a police unit outside Paris that specialises in DNA tests.
If the serial number on the flaperon confirms that it is from Flight 370, then the laboratory can use sophisticated tools to try to glean more information about the causes of the crash, such as whether its shape corresponds more to a mid-air explosion or a crash into the ocean.
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