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More Debris Washes Up On Réunion Island

Debris that was found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been determined to belong to a Boeing 777. It is still unclear whether it belongs to Flight MH370.
Raymond Wae Tion
/
Maxppp /Landov
Debris that was found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion has been determined to belong to a Boeing 777. It is still unclear whether it belongs to Flight MH370.

More debris has washed on shore of the French island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean.

From Paris, reporter Jake Cigainero tells our Newscast unit that French authorities believe the debris could be linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

Jake filed this report:

"Taking a Sunday morning stroll on the beach in La Réunion, walkers stumbled upon mangled metallic debris with what appears to be a type of door handle.

"Authorities believe the piece of metal could belong to flight MH370, which disappeared in March last year en route from Kuala Lampur to Beijing.

"Earlier this week, an airplane wing fragment had been found on the French island off the coast of East Africa, along with a piece of a suitcase and plastic bottles with Malaysian writing. French authorities received the wing segment in France yesterday for analysis. They said the piece matches a Boeing 777, the plane model of Flight MH370.

"Investigators have not yet confirmed if any of the debris belongs to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight. Official analysis is expected to begin Wednesday."

The Wall Street Journal reports that if, indeed, the debris belongs to MH370, authorities would likely be able to glean some insight as to what happened to make the plane crash.

The Journal reports:

"In previous accidents, such as the crash of Air France Flight 447 in 2009, investigators were able to reconstruct from cabin debris how the plane impacted the Atlantic on its flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris, aiding them in reconstructing what happened."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.