KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia said Friday that most of the debris found in Maldives were not from a plane and were unrelated to the missing Malaysian jet.
Last week, Malaysia said a wing fragment found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion was confirmed to be from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The plane disappeared March 8, 2014, with 239 people aboard while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.
Media reports in Maldives indicated debris found in recent weeks was brought to authorities' attention following the discovery on Reunion.
Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said a Malaysian team sent to Maldives has examined the debris.
"Most of the debris are negative. They are not related to MH370 and they are not plane material," Liow said.
He said he didn't know if the team will bring back any debris for examination but if they do, the debris will be handed over to the international investigation team. He didn't elaborate and it is unclear if all the debris found in Maldives has been examined.
The plane was believed to have crashed in the remote southern Indian Ocean but no trace had been found until a barnacle-crusted object was discovered two weeks ago on French-held Reunion Island. Authorities are certain the fragment is from a Boeing 777 component known as a flaperon, but the French have yet to positively identify it as a piece of Flight 370.
Malaysia has since sought help from other territories to look for other possible debris, and France also deployed a plane, helicopters and boats around Reunion to search the waters.
