Mauritius debris to be looked at in MH370 investigation

A piece of suspected airline debris found on a Mauritian island will be examined by investigators to see if it came from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, Australian officials have said. 

A hotel owner on the island who saw the debris said it looked like it was from the inside of a plane. If confirmed to be from MH370, it will be the first piece of interior debris from the plane. 

“The Malaysian Government is working with officials from Mauritius to seek to take custody of the debris and arrange for its examination,” Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester said in a statement.

“This debris is an item of interest. However, until the debris has been examined by experts, it is not possible to ascertain its origin.”

The debris was found on Rodrigues Island, about 560km (350 miles) east of the main island of Mauritius.

Australia has led the search for the plane, which went missing in March 2014 with 239 people on board during a flight from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, to Beijing.

The plane is still missing. 

Last month, Australian officials said two pieces of debris found along the coast of Mozambique were “almost certainly” from the aircraft and in 2015 French authorities said a wing found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion was part of the plane.

More than 95,000 square kilometers of a 120,000 square kilometer target zone had been searched. The entire zone is due to be covered by June, when the search is scheduled to end.