Maldivian police are responding to several sightings of debris washed up along the northern atolls of the archipelago, some of which occurred about a month ago, a police spokesman said on Monday.
Authorities were alerted to the sightings on Sunday.
"There is new attention to these sightings after the discovery at Reunion," the spokesman said referring to a wing part found in late July on the French territory located 3,200km southwest of the Maldives.
After that discovery, the Malaysian authorities identified nearby Madagascar and the South African coast as possible locations for debris to wash up.
The Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius has also joined the search.
Possible debris
Mohamed Shareef, a minister at the Maldivian president's office, said officials were working closely with the Malaysian aviation authorities in seeking to identify any possible debris from the missing aircraft.
"We are collecting any unidentified debris and storing them in a warehouse so that the Malaysians can carry out tests and determine if it is from their plane or not," Shareef told AFP by telephone.
"We ourselves are not doing any testing, but we have sent photographs of what we found and await their response."
Local media reports said the biggest piece of debris, a 2.4m by 0.6m panel, had washed up a few days earlier and it appeared to be material used in resort construction.
However, the authorities were preserving it to be examined by foreign experts.
Shareef said the Maldives had shared defence radar and surveillance data with Malaysia following reports last year that an unidentified airliner had been seen flying low over some of the islets shortly after MH370 went missing.
"We checked radar data and other information from that day and the answer was negative. There was no big jet liner over that area and we shared that information with the Malaysian authorities," Shareef said.
The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year, sparking the largest multinational search operation in history, now focused on the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite data hinting at the plane's path.
[aljazeera.com]
10/8/15
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Malaysia is to send a verification team to the Maldives after debris suspected to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was found on the island...
ReplyDeleteTransport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement Monday that the country had been officially notified by the Maldives Civil Aviation Authority about unidentified debris, and would be sending the team to view and conduct preliminary verification.
"Once it is determined to be aircraft debris, discussions will be held to determine the next step in terms of the process of analysis," he said.
"At this stage, it is highly premature to speculate on whether this debris is in any way connected to MH370."
The discovery comes after a flaperon, apparently from the missing airliner, was discovered on the Indian Ocean territory of Reunion.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak later confirmed that the debris had been part of the Boeing 777 that vanished March 8 last year, however French Deputy Prosecutor Serge Mackowiak urged more caution, telling reporters in the French capital that there was “a very strong supposition” that the flaperon belonged to MH370.............http://www.aa.com.tr/en/rss/571741--malaysia-to-send-id-team-to-examine-maldives-debris
10/8/15