A small, mangled metal object found on a Reunion Island beach has sparked media speculation it was a plane door suspected of belonging to missing flight MH370
The new piece of debris was found on one of Saint-Denis' rocky beaches about 25 kilometres from where a Boeing 777 wing flap was found last Wednesday.
Photos of the metal object and police removing it in a small box were tweeted by local reporter Antoine Forestier.
Local radio station Freedom 1 reported that the object had foreign writing on it. Earlier reports said the object could be part of a door.
A beachcomber who only gave her first name, Betty, says she saw police take the object away in a box from Jamaique beach, Saint-Denis at about 10am local time. The witness did not see the object but said that it fit in a box.
About a dozen local and foreign journalists were at the beach location hours afterwards.
Metallic items found in St-Denis Policeman put it in a suitcase What is it? They've "no idea" photo @linfore #MH370? pic.twitter.com/m5qD10ejiq— Antoine Forestier (@a_forestier)
August 2, 2015
Here is the picture of the metallic item. Source : @Ipreunion #MH370? pic.twitter.com/WbZqf5mD9P— Antoine Forestier (@a_forestier)
August 2, 2015
It's not known where the found object has been taken.
On Wednesday, a two-metre-long piece of wreckage believed to be a flaperon, part of a plane's wing, was found on a beach at Reunion Island covered in barnacles by locals looking for trash.
Aviation experts have speculated the part could belong to a Boeing 777, with MH370 the only missing aircraft of this kind in the world, but it is yet to be officially confirmed, with the part taken to France to undergo tests.
Malaysia has asked aviation authorities in territories near Reunion Island to help recover and inspect any more debris that may wash-up on land.
"This is to allow the experts to conduct more substantive analysis should there be more debris coming on to land, providing us more clues to the missing aircraft," said Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.
Mr Liow released the statement on Sunday following reports that more debris has washed ashore on Reunion.
The Malaysian statement confirmed that French, US, Malaysian and Boeing experts agreed the wing part that washed up last Wednesday was from a Boeing 777, the same type of plane as MH370.
The news comes after a local to the island, Nicholas Ferrier, told media that he spotted a blue seat, which could have been from a plane, on the shores of Reunion in May.
"It wasn't until Wednesday that it hit me what it could have been," said Mr Ferrier. "It was probably part of that plane."
Mr Ferrier, whose job is to trawl beaches for trash and dispose of it, said he took the seat and several suitcases that washed up along with it and burned them without realising their possible significance.
"I could have found many things that belonged to the plane, and burnt them, without realising," he said.
The flight has been missing for more than 16 months, with 239 passengers and crew on board including six Australians.
If the door does belong to MH370, it will be adorned with a red and blue stripe.
Mr Ferrier had no idea of the significance of the objects. Flotsam and jetsam are part of his everyday life on the inhospitable beach, where nobody dares to enter the fierce waves and shark-infested waters.
"I found a couple of suitcases too, around the same time, full of things," he said, almost in passing.
What did you do with them?
"I burnt them," he said, pointing to the pile of ashes lying on the boulders. "That's my job. I collect rubbish and burn it. I could have found many things that belonged to the plane, and burnt them, without realising."
He also saw the wing part that washed up on Wednesday – although in May, the barnacles encrusting its side were still alive. By the time it washed ashore again this week, the crustaceans were dead.
"Like the seat, I didn't know what it was," he said. "I sat on it. I was fishing for macabi [bonefish] and used it as a table. I really didn't pay it much attention – until I saw it on the news."
His story is backed by a local woman, named Isabelle, who spotted the same object while walking on the beach in May, accompanied by her 10-year-old son. "It was the beginning of the holidays – around May 10," she told a news website. "I was walking with my son, Krishna. Then from a rock on which we were standing, he saw an object and shouted: 'Mum, that looks like the wing of a plane."'
Aviation experts say there is no plausible explanation for the debris other than for it to have come from MH370 but Malaysian officials have urged caution so that the families of victims can be told that definitely that plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.
with the Telegraph, London
