French Prosecutors Confirm Debris Is From MH370

Rich Thomaselli
by Rich Thomaselli
Last updated: 1:11 PM ET, Fri September 4, 2015

Photo via Twitter

French officials, initially hesitant to confirm that a piece of debris found in July on a remote Indian Ocean island was from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, said Thursday that the piece of the wing is indeed from the plane.

Though Malaysian officials had said the flaperon found on Reunion Island was from the missing airliner, French prosecutors - largely for legal reasons - did not give the same verdict until releasing a statement.

"It is possible today to say with certainty that the flaperon discovered on Reunion island on July 29 came from flight MH370," Paris prosecutors said in a statement.

Yet the confirmation still brings no closure to the families and loved ones of the victims of the flight, only that it most certainly crashed somewhere in the Indian Ocean, as had been suspected, after disappearing on March 8, 2014.

No other pieces of the plane have been found, despite a 10-day search of the area surrounding Reunion Island after the flaperon was found.

The cause of the crash is still unknown as well.

Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said his country would meet with those from China and Australia this month to "refine" the search for plane.


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Rich Thomaselli

Rich Thomaselli

Associate Writer

Editor Associate Writer true 9281 14744 Rich Thomaselli has written for TravelPulse since 2014 and has been a professional journalist for nearly 40 years. His work has appeared in USA Today, the New York Times and New York Yankees publications. He is an 11-time writ

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