MALAYSIA-AIRLINES/MALAYSIAN PM Malaysia confirms debris found in Reunion is from Flight MH370

Record ID: 145030

  • Title: MALAYSIA-AIRLINES/MALAYSIAN PM Malaysia confirms debris found in Reunion is from Flight MH370
  • Date: 6th August 2015
  • Summary: KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA (AUGUST 6, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** SIGN READING (Bahasa Malaysia): "PRESS CONFERENCE MH370" MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER NAJIB RAZAK ENTERING ROOM AND STANDING AT PODIUM (SOUNDBITE) (English) MALAYSIAN PRIME MINISTER, NAJIB RAZAK, SAYING: "Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a very heavy heart that I m
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Malaysia
  • Country: Malaysia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA12W23UUDUQJCC5XEF4DCVAUO2
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak confirmed on Thursday (August 6) that a Boeing 777 wing segment discovered in the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is from missing Flight MH370, the first real breakthrough in the search for the plane that disappeared 17 months ago.
    "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 have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370. We now have physical evidence that, as I announced on 24th March last year, flight MH370 tragically ended in the southern Indian Ocean," Najib told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
    Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8 last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew on board.
    Investigators in France ascertained that the barnacle-covered debris, a 2-2.5 meter (6.5-8 feet) wing surface known as a flaperon, belonged to MH370 just days after Malaysia identified it as being part of the same model, a Boeing 777.
    Najib said he hoped the news would bring some certainty to the victims' families.
    "The burden and uncertainty faced by the families during this time has been unspeakable. It is my hope that this confirmation, however tragic and painful, will at least bring certainty to the families and loved ones of the 239 people on board MH370. They have our deepest sympathy and prayers," Najib said.
    The prime minister added the nation would always remember those who disappeared on MH370.
    "I would like to assure all those affected by this tragedy that the government of Malaysia is committed to do everything within our means to find out the truth of what happened. MH370's disappearance marked us as a nation. We mourn with you, as a nation. And I promise you this: Malaysia will always remember and honour those who were lost on board MH370," Najib said.
    The plane piece washed up last Wednesday (July 29) on Reunion, a volcanic island of 850,000 people that is a full part of France, located in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar.
    Reunion is roughly 3,700 km (2,300 miles) from the broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean off Australia where search efforts have focused, but officials and experts said currents could have carried wreckage that way, thousands of kilometers from where the plane is thought to have crashed.
    The discovery of the flaperon led to a frantic search for more possible wreckage from the missing plane in the island.
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