More debris found on Reunion island in hunt for Flight MH370

“Malaysia Airlines would like to sincerely convey our deepest sorrow to the families and friends of the passengers onboard Flight MH370 on the news that the flaperon found on Reunion Island on 29 July was indeed from Flight MH370″.

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said investigators on the French island of Reunion had collected more aircraft debris, including a plane window and aluminum foil, but there was no confirmation they also belonged to the missing plane.

“At present our focus is ascertaining the whereabouts of MH370”.

The flaperon was confirmed Wednesday to be from Flight 370, according to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. “While this is being examined, so far none of it appears to have come from an aircraft”.

The Malaysian government has previously been accused of covering up the disaster with false reports, however PM Najib has said that investigations will continue.

Liow said differences with other countries amounted to “a choice of words”.

Global crash experts had been examining the wing part found on France’s Indian Ocean island of Reunion last week.

Relatives of 153 Chinese passengers aboard missing flight MH370 held a demonstration before the Malaysian Embassy here for the second day on Friday, accusing the Malaysian government of trying to close the case by claiming that wreckage found on a French Indian Ocean island was from the plane.

MH370 disappeared on 8 March last year, after inexplicably veering off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

“We are not living in denial… but we owe it to our loved ones not to declare them lost without 100 percent certainty!” the families said on their microblog.

Search teams say they have found window panes and seat cushions. “I cannot confirm that it’s from MH370”.

The disappearance of Malaysian Airlines MH370 was considered as one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.

However, Malaysia’s request to extend the original search area in the southern Indian Ocean is likely to meet with resistance in Australia, which has largely funded the search effort and is opposed to expanding expensive underwater searches without strong evidence.

Less than an hour after the Prime Minister’s statement, Paris Deputy Prosecutor Serge Mackowiak used slightly less definitive language.

Australian authorities, which are leading the search, have expressed renewed confidence they are looking in the right area.

A French judicial source however said French investigators had not received any new items. “That really only affects the quantity of debris“, Dolan said, adding that even in scenarios where a plane had a very hard entry into the water, its engines would “remain largely intact”.

But some relatives who have consistently criticised Malaysia’s handling of the crisis – particularly in China where most of the passengers were from – rejected Najib’s announcement.

“One piece is unlikely to be to important as to causation”, Alexander said.

Some anguished family members nevertheless said any concrete proof of the plane’s fate would help bring closure.