Wreckage washed up on a remote Indian Ocean island is "very likely from a Boeing 777", Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Thursday as speculation mounted it could be from MH370 that vanished mysteriously over a year ago with 239 people, including five Indians, on board.
Investigators headed to the French island of La Reunion off the east coast of Africa to verify whether the two-metre long flaperon, a wing component, that was found on Wednesday belonged to the ill-fated Boeing 777-200 of Malaysia Airlines that went off radars on March 8, 2014.
"Initial reports suggest that the debris is very likely to be from a Boeing 777, but we need to verify whether it is from flight MH370," Najib wrote on his Facebook page.
Malaysia's Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi earlier said it was "almost certain" that the wreckage was from a Boeing 777 aircraft.
France's air crash investigation agency is studying a piece of the debris. According to a source close to the investigation, there is a unique element to the Boeing 777's flaperon that Boeing observers believe they are seeing in photos though the observations are preliminary at the moment.
A flaperon is a part of the wing used to manage the lift and control the roll of an aircraft.
In January, Malaysia declared the disappearance of the plane one hour into the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Bejing as an "accident" and all people on board as presumed dead. The latest discovery of the debris could rest all speculation in one of the most baffling mysteries in aviation history and finally determine the fate of the people on board.
The wreckage would be shipped to Toulouse by French authorities where it will be examined by the Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses, France's civil aviation authority, Najib said.
"To find out as fast as possible, the debris will be shipped by French authorities to Toulouse, site of the nearest office of the BEA, the French authority responsible for civil aviation accident investigations.”
"A Malaysian team is on the way to Toulouse now. It includes senior representatives from the ministry of transport, the department of civil aviation, the MH370 investigation team, and Malaysia Airlines," he said.
Simultaneously, a second Malaysian team is travelling to where the debris was found on Reunion, Najib said, adding that the location is "consistent with the drift analysis provided to the Malaysian investigation team, which showed a route from the southern Indian Ocean to Africa".
Najib also warned against any premature speculation, saying, "As soon as we have more information or any verification we will make it public."
"We have had many false alarms before, but for the sake of the families who have lost loved ones, and suffered such heartbreaking uncertainty, I pray that we will find out the truth so that they may have closure and peace. I promise the families of those lost that whatever happens, we will not give up," he wrote.
Indians on board the plane were Chetna Kolekar, Swanand Kolekar, Suresh Kolekar, Chandrika Sharma and Prahlad Shirsatha.
The debris, about 2.7 metres long and 0.9 metre wide, was found by people cleaning the beach, with a witness describing it as "encrusted with shells". US investigators concluded that it came from a Boeing 777 airplane, raising the odds that it belongs to MH370.
Australia, that is leading the search for the plane in a remote patch of the Indian Ocean far off Australia's west coast, said the discovery was an "important development" for investigators who have been probing sabotage, hijack, terrorism and other angles that led to the disappearance of the plane.
Australia's Transport and Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss said the discovery was "a very important development" in the hunt for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, and it was feasible debris could have floated to the French island of La Reunion.
"This obviously is a very important development and if it is indeed wreckage from MH370, it starts to provide some closure for the families of the people on board," Truss said.
"It's the first real evidence that there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found," he said, adding that it was too early to make that judgement, but “clearly we are treating this as a major lead".
Local government officials on La Reunion said in a statement that "no theory is being ruled out, including that it comes from a Boeing 777."
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Wednesday that he had received information from his colleagues in Malaysia about the wreckage spotted in La Reunion, about 4,000 kilometres from the area considered the most likely impact zone.
"I have sent a team to verify the wreckage. Anyway we need to verify," Liow had said following a UN Security Council meeting on another Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which crashed in July 2014 in Donetsk, Ukraine.
Malaysia Airlines said it remained "too premature for the airline to speculate (on) the origin of the flaperon".
K S Narendran, whose wife was on the plane, said he was reticent to call the discovery a major development. "I think this is very early days yet. All we know is that a small part has been found. It is still a little early to suggest it does belong to MH370," he told CNN.
China, whose nationals formed over 150 of the 239 people on board the MH370, said it is verifying the reports of discovery of wreckage speculated to be that of the missing plane. "We have noticed the reports and are wasting no time in obtaining and checking the information," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said in a press release.
