Missing MH370: Another piece of suspected plane debris found in South Africa

Kuala Lumpur: Another piece of debris possibly from Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 has been found in South Africa, more than two years after the jet mysteriously disappeared during a routine flight over the Indian Ocean, confirmed officials. Malaysian authorities, however, said it was too early to know if the piece of debris belonged to MH370. Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the piece was found on Monday and it was too early to ascertain if it was part of flight MH370. [caption id=“attachment_2701222” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AP[/caption] “We first need to check if the debris belonged to a Boeing 777 plane,” he said. The Boeing 777 jetliner vanished from radar screens en route to Beijing after taking off from Kuala Lumpur on March 8 2014 with 239 people, including five Indians, aboard and has not been seen since. In July the following year, a part of the aircraft wing was found on La Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. After almost two years’ of searches and questions, a South African teenager and an American lawyer recently found debris on separate occasions off the coast of Mozambique, renewing hopes of solving the major aviation mystery. If confirmed, this would be the second piece of debris found in South Africa, following the recovery of an inlet cowling of an aircraft engine on 22 March. This year, a total of five pieces of plane debris were retrieved from the La Reunion, Mozambique and South Africa. Australia is leading the underwater search effort to find the plane in the southern Indian Ocean. Families of those missing in the tragedy have been critical of Malaysia’s handling of the probe and demanding clear answers to the mystery. Several of them recently sued Malaysia Airlines for damages. PTI