The whole world has turned its eyes on the hunt for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that disappeared with 239 people on board. That's after the Malaysian prime minister said Thursday that a wing fragment found on Reunion Island last week IS from the long-missing plane. However, the prime minister's comments are at odds with the message from authorities in France, the US and Australia who have stopped short of full confirmation.
Conflicting opinions on plane MH370 debris? |
The whole world has been waiting for almost a week for the results of an ongoing analysis of the wing part in a French lab to get a clue as to the fate of the missing plane.
The Malaysian prime minister said Thursday that the part was from the missing plane but investigators examining the debris
?in France have not yet confirmed that.
"Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared it is with a very heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts has conclusively confirmed that aircraft debris found on reunion island is indeed from MH370," said Najib Razak, the Malaysian prime minister.
The prime minister's statement comes as the wing part continues to be studied by a group of international experts at a lab in Toulouse, France.
Aviation analysts say the lone piece won't be enough of a clue for searchers to locate the missing plane.
More than half of the passengers on board the missing plane were Chinese. And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says any developments in the search will mean a lot for the families.
"We suggest that Malaysia should first explain to the next-of-kin on what's going to happen next. I think on this matter it is important that we care about their feelings, the struggle that they're going through," Wang said.
A massive surface and underwater hunt had failed to find the plane before the wing piece was discovered in what's become one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history.
The plane went missing on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 on board, most of them Chinese.