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Suspected MH370 debris found off Tanzania: Australian official

Friday, 24 June 2016 4:44 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 24 June 2016 6:13 PM ]

Malaysian women walk in front of a mural of missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 plane in Shah Alam on March 8, 2016. ©AFP

Australia’s minister for infrastructure and transport says plane wreckage potentially from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has been discovered off the coast of Tanzania.

In a statement released on Friday, Darren Chester said a "piece of aircraft debris" was found on Pemba Island in the Indian Ocean without elaborating on when the discovery was made.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which has been conducting the search on Malaysia's behalf, is seeking “further information” to determine whether the debris belongs to Flight 370, he added.

Earlier this week, officials from Australia, Malaysia and China met to discuss the search for the missing plane. Chester described the discussions as productive, but gave no further details ahead of a ministerial meeting scheduled for late July.

Recently, possible aircraft debris was found on Australia's Kangaroo Island, but the Australian bureau said it was not from the Malaysian airliner.

The MH370 flight vanished from radar on March 8, 2014, during a trip from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.

Malaysia Airlines aircraft are seen parked on the tarmac at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on June 20, 2016. ©AFP

Authorities say the plane likely crashed. However, officials have had no luck finding the main wreckage despite an extensive underwater search of a vast area.

Several pieces confirmed to be from or thought highly likely to be from MH370 have washed up over the past year on coastlines around the Indian Ocean.

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