Malaysian team heads to Madagascar to probe suspected MH370 debris By Melissa Goh 05 Sep 2017 12:35P

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) has dispatched officials to Madagascar to receive and probe newly found suspected plane debris, Malaysian transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Tuesday (Sep 5).

However the minister said it was too early to tell whether the debris belonged to missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. The debris, claimed to have been retrieved by Blaine Gibson, is described as "a small piece" and under investigation by DCA officials.

He said the standard operating procedures (SOP) in handling the debris involved either Malaysia sending its officers there or the debris being transferred here for identification.

"Instead of sending the debris here, we've sent our officers there," he told reporters when queried on the matter after opening the World Maritime Day 2017 in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014, with 239 people on board, on a flight to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur.

The disappearance of the Boeing 777 has become one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries. It is thought to have been diverted thousands of miles off course out over the southern Indian Ocean before crashing off the coast of Western Australia. Various pieces of debris have been collected from Indian Ocean islands and Africa's east coast and at least three of them have been confirmed as coming from the missing plane.

Liow also urged the public not to speculate on the murder of Zahid Raza, Malaysia's honorary consul in Madagascar who was gunned down in the capital Antananarivo on Aug 24."Police investigations are still ongoing, we don't know whether it's linked to MH370 or not," he added. Source: Bernama/CNA/ad

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