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MH370 DISCOVERY

Wreckage washed up on Australian beach is believed to be from doomed Malaysia Airlines jet

Officials open probe as debris with honeycomb symbol printed with words saying, "Caution no step" is discovered on island off country's coast

FURTHER wreckage from the doomed Malaysia Airlines jet is believed to have been discovered - washed up on a remote Australian beach.

Officials have begun an investigation into aircraft debris found on an island off the South Coast of Australia.

 Wreckage washed up on remote Australian beach is suspected to be from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board
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Wreckage washed up on remote Australian beach is suspected to be from Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 which disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on boardCredit: 7 News

Australian television station Channel Seven reported that the debris was discovered by a person searching for driftwood on Kangaroo Island.

Footage showed a fragment of white wreckage with a honeycomb symbol and printed words saying, "Caution no step".

A spokesperson for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said: "All we know is that there is wreckage.

"We're waiting for further information and we'll examine each component as it comes in. At this stage, there is nothing definitive and we'll follow our normal procedure."

 The fragment of white wreckage has a honeycomb symbol on along with printed words saying, “Caution no step”
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The fragment of white wreckage has a honeycomb symbol on along with printed words saying, “Caution no step”Credit: 7 News

Officials with Australia's Transport Safety Bureau have told how they will inspect the fragments when they arrive with them

Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur bound for Beijing, in what has become one of the world's greatest aviation mysteries.

A first piece of the Boeing 777, a wing part known as a flaperon, washed up on the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion in July 2015. Malaysia and French authorities confirmed it was from the aircraft.

Two pieces of debris discovered later in South Africa and the Mauritian island of Rodrigues were almost certainly from the jetliner, Malaysia's transport ministry said last month.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said one is an engine cowling piece with a partial Rolls-Royce logo.

The other is an interior panel piece from an aircraft cabin — the first interior part found from the missing plane.

An international team of experts in Australia who examined the debris concluded that both pieces were consistent with panels found on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 aircraft.

 Fragment was discovered on Kangaroo Island, which is located just off the south coast of Australia
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Fragment was discovered on Kangaroo Island, which is located just off the south coast of Australia
 Debris was found by a walker who was searching for driftwood on Kangaroo island
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Debris was found by a walker who was searching for driftwood on Kangaroo islandCredit: Alamy

Liow added in a statement: "As such, the team has confirmed that both pieces of debris from South Africa and Rodrigues Island are almost certainly from MH370."

Investigators believe someone may have deliberately switched off the plane's transponder before diverting it thousands of miles off course over the Indian Ocean.

Authorities had predicted that any debris from the plane that isn't on the ocean floor would eventually be carried by currents to the east coast of Africa.

Marine life attached to the debris is being investigated for clues as to where it entered the ocean, but nothing useful has been discovered yet.

 This piece of wreckage discovered in South Africa has been confirmed as being from missing MH370
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This piece of wreckage discovered in South Africa has been confirmed as being from missing MH370Credit: Getty Images


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