Malaysia seeks assistance from Reunion Island's surrounding territories

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said Sunday that Malaysia is seeking assistance from several aviation authorities in territories within the vicinity of Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean.

"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," he said in a statement.

He said the flaperon discovered on Reunion Island has been officially identified as being part of a Boeing 777 aircraft, which was verified by French authorities together with aircraft manufacturer Boeing, U.S. National Transportation Safety Board ( NTSB) and the Malaysian team comprising the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airlines, and Malaysian ICAO Annex 13 Safety Investigation Team for MH370.

Liow said Malaysia, the United States, China, France and Boeing will send representatives to participate in the verification of the flaperon in Toulouse on Wednesday.