France Launches New Search for MH370 Debris
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - France has launched a renewed air and sea search around the Indian Ocean island of Réunion in the hope of finding more debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
The operation on Friday morning was announced 24 hours after a public prosecutor declared there was a “strong possibility” a wing flaperon discovered on an island beach was from the Boeing 777 that disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board, according to The Guardian.
The search comes amid deteriorating relations between France, which is now heading the international investigation into the crash, and Malaysian officials who have been accused of “misinformation” and headline seeking.
While Malaysian officials have stated the wing debris is definitely from flight MH370, French officials heading a legal investigation have been considerably more cautious.
The announcement of a renewed search was made in a joint statement from France’s overseas and transport ministries.
“Complementary analyses on this piece (flaperon) are being currently carried out. Following a request from the president and the prime minister, and to meet the needs of the inquiry, we have decided to deploy additional air and sea resources to establish the possible presence of new debris off Réunion,” it said.
On Friday morning, islanders reported a Casa plane overflying the zone around the Saint André beach where the flaperon was discovered nine days ago. French soldiers have also been deployed to comb the beaches and coastline along with gendarmes and helicopters.