Liow talks to the media about the debris during the press conference. — Bernama photo
KUALA LUMPUR: An aircraft chunk recovered off Tanzania, East Africa two days ago is possibly from a Boeing 777, according to Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.
He said authorities of that country had acknowledged the matter to the ministry, which is awaiting confirmation before sending a Malaysian investigation team to study the debris.
“This debris is quite large. We have already received photographs of it. However, only if it is confirmed to be that of Boeing 777 will we send an investigation team there to study whether it really belonged to MH370 or not.”
He said this in a media conference in conjunction with the ninth World Hui Zhou Convention at Seri Kembangan near here, yesterday.
Flight MH370 carrying 239 passengers and crew went missing while enroute to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur on March 8, 2014.
Liow said the chunk appeared to match other debris found near South Africa and Mauritius.
Other debris linked to MH370 were recovered last year but only the flaperon retrieved off Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean had been confirmed to be from the ill-fated aircraft.
Meanwhile, the minister also confirmed that the personal effects found at Madagascar beach recently did not belong to passengers of MH370.
He said the confirmation was made by the country that found the items after a series of analysis.
On Malaysia’s stand should the Australian Transport Safety Bureau opt to end the search for MH370 in the Indian Ocean, he said a tripartite ministerial level meeting would be held for a decision in mid July.
“We hope the mission would be continued up to 120,000sq km but adverse weather would complicate the mission.
“Nevertheless, our decision will depend on the recommendations and views of the experts during the meeting,” he said. — Bernama