‘Object of interest’ found in search for missing Malaysian plane

An “object of interest” has been found off the coast of western Australia in the search for missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 but Malaysia said it has yet to receive verification on whether the unidentified material is indeed from the missing flight.

Australian authorities said on Wednesday that the material is being investigated for possible links to the Malaysian jetliner that disappeared more than seven weeks ago with 239 people on board.

“Yes, we have received the report from the Australian ATSB [Australian Transport Safety Bureau] on the plastic sheet that was washed ashore but that’s not been verified yet as part of the aircraft,” head of Malaysia Civil Aviation Authority Azharuddin Abdul Rahman said at a news conference in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

“So yes, we have received the report but we have not received any verification, any confirmation that is part of MH370.”

Australian police have secured the material, found 10 km east of the town of Augusta at the southern tip of Western Australia state, the Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement.

Acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said a large part of an underwater drone’s search has been completed, but with no results.

“Bluefin-21 is currently completing mission 10 in the underwater search area. Bluefin-21 has now completed more than 80 percent of the focused underwater search area. No contacts of interest have been found to date,” he said.

He added that Malaysia’s cabinet approved on Wednesday the appointment of an international team to investigate the disappearance of Flight MH370.

“On the international investigation team, the cabinet has deliberated and approved this morning the appointment of an international investigation team to investigate the MH370 incident,” he said.

Hishammuddin added that the government has had talks with Malaysian state oil firm Petronas and other unidentified entities to expand the deep-sea search for the missing plane in the southern Indian Ocean.

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