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MH370 investigators to look at details of found flaperon: Malaysian official

Xinhua, August 3, 2015 Adjust font size:

Investigators will look at the details of the flaperon discovered on Reunion Island to decide whether it belongs to the Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight, said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai on Monday.

Liow said information such as the manufacturing date and part serial number will help the experts in the verification process. Boeing will joint the verification due to start on Wednesday.

Liow said on Sunday that the flaperon has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft, the same type of the plane MH370.

This was verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB) and the Malaysian team comprising the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airlines, and Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370, he said in a statement.

Liow told a press conference on Monday that the experts made the judgment based on the photos of the flaperon.

Some more debris has been collected on the Reunion Island but it could not be decided whether they are related to the missing aircraft. The debris will be handed over to French authorities for verification, Liow said.

Legal process and protocols have to be followed before verification started, he added, urging the public not to speculate as the new discovery have put stress on the next of kin.

The flight, a Boeing 777-200, went missing enroute from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, with 239 on board, most of them Chinese.

So far, the plane has not been found despite a massive surface and underwater hunt, in what has become one of the biggest mysteries in the aviation history.

Liow said the joint search effort by Malaysia, Australia and China is still ongoing, adding the three countries will meet on the next step if the part was confirmed from MH370. Endi