Pemba debris 'has numbers that match MH370'

Tanzania Permanent Secretary to the ministry of Works, Transport and Communication Leonard Chamuriho (C) hands over of a wing suspected to be a part of missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 discovered on the island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania July 15, 2016. With him are Australia High Commissioner to East African John Feakes (2ndL) and Ministry of Transport Malaysian Senior Accident investigator Aslam Basha Kham (L). Picture taken July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Tanzania Permanent Secretary to the ministry of Works, Transport and Communication Leonard Chamuriho (C) hands over of a wing suspected to be a part of missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 discovered on the island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania July 15, 2016. With him are Australia High Commissioner to East African John Feakes (2ndL) and Ministry of Transport Malaysian Senior Accident investigator Aslam Basha Kham (L). Picture taken July 15, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

Published Sep 16, 2016

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Moscow - The numbers and dimensions of debris suspected to come from the disappeared Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 match the aircraft, Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said.

"A date stamp indicated that it was manufactured on Jan 23, 2002, and consistent with the May 31, 2002, delivery date for MH370," Liow said on Thursday, as quoted by The Star newspaper on Friday.

He added that "all identification stamps have a second 'OL' number which are unique identifiers relating to the part."

According to the transport minister, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) and the MH370 Safety Investigation Team have both verified that the numbers, appearance and dimensions of the debris, found on Pemba Island of the Zanzibar Archipelago in June, match those of an outboard flap section of the Boeing 777 aircraft.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, disappeared from radar screens on March 8, 2014, less than an hour after takeoff. There were 227 passengers and 12 crew members on board the Boeing 777 aircraft.

According to the Malaysian transport minister, the search for the missing aircraft will continue until the entire search area of 120,000 square kilometres defined by experts has been covered.

So far, several pieces of debris suspected to come from the aircraft have been found at different locations, including in Mozambique, South Africa and the French island of Reunion.

Sputnik

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