Int’l team verifying possible debris from Flight MH370

MELBOURNE, Australia

An Australian expert has flown to France to join an international investigation team set to verify whether a wing part found on a French island in the Indian Ocean belongs to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370.

Australia’s transport minister said Wednesday that after the team’s examination of the debris found last week on Reunion, east of Madagascar, French and Malaysian authorities would release a statement about its origin later this week.

"An investigator from the ATSB [Australian Transport and Safety Bureau] will join the French and Malaysian-led international investigation team today to examine aircraft wreckage found on La Reunion," the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Warren Truss as saying.

While the part has already been identified as belonging to a Boeing 777 – the plane model of Flight MH370 -- the team was due to begin the verification process Wednesday, according to Fairfax Media.

Truss also said that Australian experts concluded through drift modeling that if MH370 had crashed in the southern Indian Ocean last year as believed, its parts could have been moved 2000 (1,243 miles) kilometers to Reunion by ocean currents and winds.

"For this reason, thorough and methodical search efforts will continue to be focused on the defined underwater search area, covering 120,000 square kilometers in the south Indian Ocean," he said.

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.

Search and rescue operations have involved around 65 aircraft and 95 ships, as well as experts from 25 countries.

After a 10-month intensive undersea search for the vanished flight, Malaysia declared Jan. 29 that Flight MH370 was lost in an accident, with all on board killed.

Department of Civil Aviation Director-General Rahman had reiterated at the time that search operations would not be halted, but rather remain "a priority" for the countries involved, including China and Australia.