Malaysia says possible MH370 debris found in South Africa

By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

Malaysia is to send a team of investigators to South Africa to check if debris found on the country's southern coast comes from missing aircraft MH370.

In a statement released Tuesday, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the debris found near the town of Mosselbay could have originated from an "inlet cowling" of an aircraft engine.

"However, further examination and analysis are required in order to verify if the debris belongs to MH370," he said in a short statement.

Liow Tiong Lai added that the government is currently in close contact with the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

"A team will be despatched to retrieve the debris. We will provide updates as and when new information becomes available," he said.

MH370 vanished March 8 2014 an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport carrying 239 passengers and crew, including 152 Chinese citizens.

The search and rescue mission -- which began immediately -- involved some 160 assets inclusive of 65 aircraft and 95 vessels as well as experts from 25 countries.

After 10 months of intensive undersea search for the vanished flight, on Jan. 29, 2015 Malaysia declared that MH370 was lost in an accident, killing all passengers.

On July 29 last year, a piece of aircraft debris – later determined to be a MH370 flaperon – was found washed ashore on the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar.