KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia confirmed yesterday that a piece of a wing washed up on an Indian Ocean island beach last week was from the Malaysian Airlines jet MH370, the first trace of the plane found since it vanished last year with 239 people on board.
“Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island in France is from MH370,” Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an early morning televised statement.
The announcement, by providing clear evidence that the plane crashed in the ocean, closes a chapter in one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history, but still leaves unanswered questions about why it disappeared.
The examination of the part is being carried out under the direction of a judge at an aeronautical test facility run by the French military at Balma, a suburb of the southwestern city of Toulouse, and witnessed by Malaysian officials.
Officials from the US and manufacturer Boeing were on hand to advise whether the piece can be tied to Flight MH370, which went missing on March 8 last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Agencies
