MH370: Malaysia sends team to South Africa after fragment handed to CAA

Malaysia will only send a team to South Africa as soon as the latter confirms that it has received the fragment of the aircraft found by members of the public on a beach near the town of Mossel Bay on Tuesday.

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the fragment must be handed over to the South African Enforcement of Civil Aviation Department (CAA).

"The fragment was found by members of the public, it must be handed over to the authorities in South Africa, that is the CAA.

"After receiving information that the fragment had been handed over to the CAA, then we will send our people there," he told reporters after visiting the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport (LTSAS), here today.

READ: MH370 analysis starts on debris: Australia

Liow said the Malaysian team would take the fragment from the CAA and send it to Australia for study and analysis to confirm whether it belonged to the aircraft flight MH370.

The Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH370 carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew disappeared from radar screens while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.

Commenting further, Liow said Malaysia would also hold discussions with the South African authorities to seek permission to conduct a search along the country's coastline to look for more fragments.

On the two fragments being studied in Australia, Liow said Kuala Lumpur and Canberra would issue a joint statement as soon as a complete result of the analysis was received.

"They have started the verification process and we have to do it in a very transparent process," he said.

Meanwhile, on the LTSAS here, he said it would be improved including expanding the waiting area following the rise in the number of passengers using the airport.

Liow said the total number of international and domestic passengers using the airport had exceeded 220,000 last year resulting in congestion at LTSAS.

"We plan to expand the waiting area because it can only accommodate about 100 passengers currently," he told reporters after visiting the LTSAS.

Also present were Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir and Chairman of the State Health, Public Transport, Non-Islamic Affairs, National Integrity and New Villages Committee Datuk Dr Mah Hang Soon.