MH370: Debris found in Mauritius and South Africa 'almost certainly' belong to missing Malaysia Airlines plane

Authorities in Malaysia and Australia have confirmed that the two pieces of debris found on beaches in Mauritius and South Africa "almost certainly" belong to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. The confirmation brings the total number of pieces of debris found of the missing plane to five. The Beijing-bound flight from Kuala Lumpur disappeared on 8 March 2014, with 239 people on board.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) confirmed that the piece of engine cowling bearing a Rolls-Royce logo found on a beach in South Africa is "almost certainly" from the Boeing 777 missing airplane, the Guardian reported. The bureau also confirmed that another piece found on a beach in Mauritius belonged to a panel segment from MH370's main cabin. It said that the pattern, colour and texture of the internal panel laminate found in the piece is used only by Malaysia Airlines on Boeing 777s and 747s.

"There is no record of the laminate being used by any other Boeing 777 customer," the bureau reportedly said in its report, which was released after a thorough inspection of the pieces of debris discovered. ATSB has reportedly preserved marine ecology that was found attached to both the pieces.

Earlier in March, Australian authorities investigating the disappearance of the Malaysian Airlines flight confirmed that two pieces of debris found along Mozambique's coast most certainly belonged to the missing aircraft. In 2015, a wing part from the plane found on Reunion Island in the western Indian Ocean was also confirmed to be from the plane.

A search operation is underway to locate other remains of the missing MH370, which is believed to have crashed in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean, but no major breakthrough has been achieved so far except for the five pieces of debris found in different locations.