Malaysia confirms debris found in Tanzania is from MH370

A woman leaves a message of support and hope for the passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 in central Kuala Lumpur March 16, 2014. REUTERS/Damir Sagolj/File photo

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia said on Thursday that a large piece of aircraft debris discovered on the island of Pemba, off the coast of Tanzania, in June, was from the missing Malaysia Airlines jet MH370. A search of more than two years has turned up few traces of the Boeing 777 aircraft that disappeared in March 2014, with 239 passengers and crew on board, soon after taking off from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, bound for Beijing. The debris, an outboard flap, will be examined further to see if it can yield any insight into the circumstances around the missing plane, Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement. Investigators have previously confirmed a piece of plane debris found on the French island of Reunion in July 2015 as being part of MH370. They are examining several other pieces of debris found in Mozambique, South Africa and Rodrigues Island, a territory of Mauritius. (Reporting by Praveen Menon; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)