Malaysia confirms wing part washed up on beach is from missing MH370
A piece of a wing that washed up on an Indian Ocean island beach last week was part of the wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia said on August 6, confirming the discovery of the first trace of the plane since it vanished last year.
"Today, 515 days since the plane disappeared, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that an international team of experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370," Prime Minister Najib Razak said in an early morning televised address.
The announcement, by providing the first direct evidence that the plane crashed in the ocean, closes a chapter in one of the biggest mysteries in aviation history but still gives families of the 239 victims little clue as to why.
"Although they found something, you know, it’s not the end," said Jacquita Gonzales, whose husband Patrick Gomes was a flight attendant on the aircraft.
"They still need to find the whole plane and our spouses as well. We still want them back," she said.
Sara Weeks, the sister of crash victim Paul Weeks, said she was "disgusted" to have been told by a reporter who called her.
"Any time anything happens, it takes you right back to the beginning, the same feelings, same everything, but again this time it has been a week of turmoil and that's going to continue for some time," she told Australia's Fairfax Media.
The airline described the find as "a major breakthrough".