New find of suspected MH370 debris to be tested
AFP
March 12, 2016 09:08 MYT
March 12, 2016 09:08 MYT
Investigators believe the plane rerouted to the southern Indian Ocean, where it crashed.
A new piece of debris found by a South African holidaymaker that could be a part of the missing Malaysian flight MH370 would be sent for analysis, aviation authorities said Friday.
Teenager Liam Lotter told local media he had found the metre-long piece of metal on a beach while on holiday in Mozambique in December, and had taken it home.
It was only when news broke earlier this month of a suspected piece of the airliner being found in Mozambique that the family got in touch with the authorities.
"The South African Civil Aviation Authority has arranged for the collection of the part, which will then be sent to Australia as this is the country appointed by Malaysia to identify any parts found," spokesman Kabelo Ledwaba said in a statement.
News of the new find comes just days after the March 8 two-year anniversary of the plane's mysterious disappearance in 2014.
The aircraft diverted for unknown reasons while on a routine overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew aboard.
Investigators believe the plane rerouted to the southern Indian Ocean, where it crashed.
No crash site has been found.
Last July a man on the French-held Indian Ocean island of Reunion found a wing fragment that experts later determined came from MH370, the only confirmed evidence of the plane's fate to be found.