A woman writes a message on a dedication board for the victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 airliner and the missing Flight MH370, in Subang Jaya outside Kuala Lumpur July 23, 2014. All sides in Ukraine's civil war must protect civilia
IN PHOTO: The moist towelette from a Malaysian Airlines flight, discovered on a Western Australian beach in July 2014, is unlikely to help the search of the missing flight MH370. The towelette was discovered by a WA couple. IN PHOTO: A woman writes a message on a dedication board for the victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 airliner and the missing Flight MH370, in Subang Jaya outside Kuala Lumpur July 23, 2014. All sides in Ukraine's civil war must protect civilians and take what measures they can to search for the victims of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 airliner and ensure their bodies are returned, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Samsul Said

Authorities have confirmed that a part number on a piece of aeroplane debris, discovered on July 29 in the Indian Ocean, belongs to a Boeing 777. This further instigates the speculation that the part may be from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, disappeared on March 8, 2014.

According to a Malaysian transport official, the confirmation comes from Malaysia Airlines that the part number is from a Boeing 777 aircraft. Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said on Friday that the airline had informed him about it. According to experts, the piece of debris looks to be a flaperon, a moveable part on the trailing edge of a wing.

According to Kaprawi, the piece of debris was enough to take investigators “close to solving the mystery of MH370.” “This could be the convincing evidence that MH370 went down in the Indian Ocean," ABC quoted him.

Sydney Morning Herald reported that the wreckage seemed to be a “wing flap washed up on the small French island east of Madagascar” on Wednesday. The wreckage had the number BB670. Offices of France's BEA crash investigation agency in Toulouse are given the responsibility to verify if the part was the first trace of the missing plane.

An extensive search for the Boeing 777 aircraft, which has been going on for more than a year now, had turned out to be futile so far. According to a French official, the first analysis of the debris will not be available before the next week.

Sky News reported that experts from France's crash investigators BEA would examine the part at an aeronautical centre of the Defence Ministry to find out if it really belongs to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight, which mysteriously disappeared with 239 people on board.

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