It's been two years since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 went missing during a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. But clues to the plane's fate continue to surface.
Now a new piece of debris has washed up in Mozambique, and Malaysia's transport minister, Liow Tiong Lai, said Wednesday that there is a "high possibility" that it came from a Boeing 777, the same model as the missing jetliner.
He also emphasized that the findings had yet to be verified. He tweeted: "I urged everyone to avoid undue speculation as we are not able to conclude that the debris belongs to #mh370 at this time."
A statement from Australia's Minister for Transport and Infrastructure confirms that a "piece of metal, approximately one metre in length" was found. It added:
"The debris is to be transferred to Australia where it will be examined by officials from Australia and Malaysia, as well as international specialists.
"The location of the debris is consistent with drift modelling commissioned by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and reaffirms the search area for MH370 in the southern Indian Ocean."
As The Associated Press reports:
"Photos of the debris discovered over the weekend appear to show the fixed leading edge of the right-hand tail section of a Boeing 777, said [a U.S.] official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak publicly. MH-370, which disappeared two years ago with 239 people aboard, is the only known missing 777."
Last summer, another piece of debris washed up on the French island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean. More than a month after the wreckage was found, French investigators confirmed the hunk of metal was a wing fragment from the plane.
The plane's disappearance remains a mystery.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org. 9(MDAzMjM2NDYzMDEyMzc1Njk5NjAxNzY3OQ001))
