PUTRAJAYA: A piece of debris, believed to have originated from an “inlet cowling” of an aircraft engine, was discovered in the southern coast of South Africa, said Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai (pic).
However, further examination and analysis were required to verify whether it was from the missing MH370, he said.
“The Transport Ministry and the Department of Civil Aviation are in close contact with the South African Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on this.
“A team will be despatched to retrieve it.
“The ministry will provide updates as and when new information becomes available,” said Liow.
The piece of debris was discovered near the town of Mosselbay in South Africa yesterday.
Earlier this month, two pieces of debris were found in Mozambique and had been sent to Australia for an investigation team to look for possible links to the missing Flight MH370.
In July last year, a piece of the plane’s flaperon was discovered washed up on the shores of French La Reunion Island.
The Boeing 777-200ER jet vanished with 239 people on board while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014.
Meanwhile, the Government will provide US$5,000 (RM20,000) to the next-of-kin of every Malaysian passenger and crew of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 that was shot down in Ukraine, Bernama reports.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said yesterday the Cabinet approved the aid on Friday.
“The ministry is vetting the list of Malaysian victims because some of them had dual citizenship,’’ she told reporters after presenting the 2015 excellent service awards to 656 employees of the ministry here.
Rohani said the aid would be handed over at a special ceremony.
Flight MH17, carrying 283 passengers and 15 crew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was hit by a missile over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.
All the 298 passengers and crew perished.
Besides 44 Malaysians, the Boeing 777-200 also carried passengers from the Netherlands, Australia, Indonesia, Britain, Germany, Belgium, the Philippines, Canada and New Zealand.-thestar
