MH370: Process of identifying plane debris in Mozambique will take time - Liow
An undated handout photo taken in an undisclosed location and received from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on March 3, 2016, shows a suspected piece of aircraft debris found on the coast of Mozambique. - AFP Photo/ATSB
The process of identifying whether the aircraft debris found in Mozambique belongs to missing Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH370 will take some time because it involves a number of procedures, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said, as to how long it would take could not be determined because it would have to go through the same process as the flaperon that was found on Reunion Island in July last year.
"The investigation team from the Malaysian Civil Aviation Department and MAS as well as the special investigation team on MH370 will be sent to Australia for the identification process," he told reporters here today.
He said the Malaysian investigators would work with their Australian counterparts who had already sent an investigation team to Mozambique on bringing the debris to Australia.
"We want the investigation to be done speedily and are awaiting the process of bringing the debris to Australia," he said.
Liow added that although pictures of the debris published by a news agency indicated that it could be a part of a Boeing 777, it was too early to link it to MH370.
The debris, a piece of metal of about one metre in length, was found on a Mozambican beach.
Meanwhile, Liow said a decision on whether to expand the search for more debris in Mozambique would only be done if it was determined the object found indeed came from MH370.
On a commemorative ceremony for the second anniversary of the missing of MH370, Liow said only a special session would be held in Parliament for the purpose.
"Also on March 8, an interim statement on the probe into the missing of MH370 will be issued.
"I will make an announcement once I receive it," he added.
MH370 was carrying 239 passengers and crew when it went missing from radar screens while on a flight to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
It has yet to be found although massive search operations were conducted in the southern Indian Ocean, the place the Boeing 777 is believed to have ended after diverting from its original route.
On July 29 last year, a flaperon found on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, was sent to France for analysis.
On Aug 6 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak confirmed the flaperon belonged to MH370, and the search continues for the aircraft.
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