Saint-Denis de la Reunion: France launched a hunt for more wreckage from the ill-fated MH370 plane off Reunion island on Friday in a fresh effort to shed light on one of aviation's biggest mysteries.
The tiny French Indian Ocean territory has been under intense scrutiny since a beach cleaner found a washed-up wing part last week, which Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak later declared was part of the Boeing 777 that mysteriously vanished 17 months ago.
The flaperon is currently being examined by experts in France for clues as to the last moments of the Malaysia Airlines aircraft that inexplicably veered off course en route
from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and there are hopes that Reunion may yield more debris.
In nearby Mauritius, authorities are also searching for any possible plane parts that may have landed on their shores.
Dominique Sorain, the top government official in Reunion, told reporters that a military transport plane was patrolling the seas off the coast and a ship had also departed before being forced to return due to bad weather.
He added that helicopters would also be used, as would soldiers and policemen who will patrol the eastern part of the island where the flaperon was discovered. "This... will last a week, after which we will draw our first conclusions," Sorain said.
As evening drew in, the search was called off, to be resumed early Sunday. "There will be no mission during the day tomorrow," said military officer Aline Simon.
On Sunday, only the plane would be deployed, with boats launched if any debris is found, she added.
Since the discovery of the two-metre-long flaperon last week, people on the island have come forward with other objects they think may look like plane parts.
Sorain said some of these objects had been sealed while waiting for experts to determine whether they really are bits of aircraft or not.
He said some of the objects were "the size of a finger." "The flaperon looked a lot like a part from a Boeing, but for small elements it's much more complex."
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai had said on Thursday that more possible MH370 objects -- aircraft seat cushions and windows -- had been discovered on Reunion island, but that any link "had to be verified by the French authorities."
A French judicial source however said French investigators had not received any new items.
The Boeing 777 disappeared on March 8 last year, sparking the largest multinational search operation in history, now focused on the southern Indian Ocean based on satellite data hinting at the plane's path.
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