New piece of MH370 debris found in SA: Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia today said it will send a team to retrieve a new piece of plane debris found along the southern coast of South Africa this morning to check if it belongs to Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished mysteriously two years ago.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the?debris which was found near the town of Mosselbay could possibly originate from an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine," but further examination and analysis are needed to verify whether it belongs to Flight 370.

He said that the Ministry of Transport and the Department of Civil Aviation Malaysia were in close contact with the South African Civil Aviation Authority on this matter.

Further examination will be required to verify if the debris belongs to the missing MAS jetliner MH370. Liow said a team will be dispatched to retrieve the debris.

The Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers, including five Indians, enroute from here to Beijing, had disappeared on March 8, 2014. The plane Boeing 777 is believed to have ended its journey in the southern Indian Ocean.

Earlier this month, Mozambican civil aviation authorities had handed over suspected debris from missing flight MH370 to Malaysian experts after the piece was found by an American amateur investigator. Currently these parts are being examined by experts in Australia.

Investigators have said the search will end by June unless fresh clues are found.

The second anniversary of the plane's disappearance was marked on March 8th. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak had expressed confidence that the wreckage of the missing Flight MH370 would be found.