By P Prem Kumar

KUALA LUMPUR

The search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 will continue in the southern Indian Ocean despite the discovery of a flaperon on Le Reunion Island.

The Malaysian government said Tuesday that the hunt has been enabled by data analysis which has narrowed an initial 120,000 square kilometers (46,332 square miles) search area by 95 percent.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said that a drift model built to give an idea of where the debris would be washed up had pinpointed the northwest of the Indian Ocean.

"It was proven right when the flaperon was found on the northwest edge, or Le Reunion Island," he told Parliament on Tuesday.

"The discovery of flaperon reaffirms that flight MH370 ended its journey in the southern Indian Ocean, therefore the search operations in the current earmarked area will be continued."

Beijing-bound MH370, which vanished an hour after taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport on March 8 last year, was carrying 239 passengers and crew members, including 152 Chinese citizens.

The search and rescue mission involved 65 aircraft, 95 vessels, and 25 countries.

After 10 months of intensive underwater search, on Jan. 29 Malaysia declared MH370 was lost in an accident, killing all passengers.

On July 29, a piece of aircraft debris was found washed ashore on the Le Reunion, east of Madagascar. 

Days after, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that the flaperon was from MH370, and that the flight had indeed ended in the Indian Ocean.