A piece of debris found in Mozambique arrived in Malaysia on Thursday for initial investigations into whether it came from missing flight MH370 before being taken to Australia for deeper analysis, officials said.
Department of Civil Aviation chief Azharuddin Abdul Rahman confirmed to AFP that the 1m-long object was in Malaysia.
He declined to provide further details but Malaysia’s transport minister told local media it would be passed along to Australia, which is leading a huge Indian Ocean search for the missing aircraft.
“We will send it to Australia for further examinations,” Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai was quoted as saying.
Liow previously said there is a “high probability” the piece of debris came from a Boeing 777.
The debris could provide fresh clues into the mystery of the Malaysia Airlines flight, a Boeing 777.
Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said last week the debris would be analysed there by Malaysian and Australian officials and specialists, including from Boeing, to determine its origin.
Mozambican authorities on Monday handed over the debris to Malaysian experts after it was found washed up on a sandbar by a US amateur investigator.
Tuesday marked the second anniversary of the plane’s disappearance.
MH370 was carrying 239 passengers and crew when it vanished on March 8, 2014 on an overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Last July, a wing fragment was found washed ashore on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion and later confirmed to be from the plane.
More possible MH370 debris in the same area was found on Sunday and authorities are studying it.
But the search has been unable to pinpoint an actual crash site, which could help to solve the baffling mystery.
