Debris found in Australia's Kangaroo Island does not belong to MH370

Debris which earlier this month washed up on Kangaroo Island in south Australia did not come from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, the Australian government said on Wednesday.

A statement released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) said careful examination by Malaysian and Australian authorities, as well as the aircraft manufacturer, determined that the debris was not from the missing Boeing 777 aircraft which disappeared in March 2014.

"The ATSB recovered the part and examined it, in conjunction with Malaysian authorities and the aircraft manufacturer, Boeing," the statement said.

"Information received from the manufacturer indicates that the item is not consistent with the manufacturing specifications of a Boeing commercial aircraft," said the statement.

"As such, the ATSB has assessed that the item is not related to the safety investigation or on-going search for MH370."

The ATSB also said that, on June 20-21, officials from Australia, China and Malaysia met to discuss a "range of matters" pertaining to the operational search being undertaken in the southern Indian Ocean, and "agreed to plans for recovery activities, including securing all the evidence necessary for the accident investigation" should the aircraft be found in the search zone.

According to the government organization, more than 105,000 square kilometers of the 120,000 square kilometer sea floor zone has been searched, with completion expected before the end of the year.

The latest update from the ATSB comes after photographs of possible passenger luggage, recently found in Madagascar, were released to the public. On Tuesday, the ATSB said any investigation into the photographs was under the jurisdiction of Malaysia.

A spokesperson from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) told Xinhua on Tuesday that it would be "difficult" to link the items in the photographs to passengers aboard MH370, as there were no names, labels or identifiable markers on the items.

"It would be difficult to identify any item which does not have any unique markings and is not a part of the aircraft structure," the spokesperson told Xinhua.

He said that "Malaysian authorities are responsible for the investigation into the disappearance of MH370 and would possess the most information about those lost aboard the aircraft and their possessions."

MH370 was a scheduled passenger flight from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing which disappeared on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board. Endit