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French investigators will conduct air, land and sea searches in and around the island of Reunion in the hope of finding more debris which could be linked to MH370.

A wing section found on the French Indian Ocean island definitely came from the doomed Malaysia Airline flight, Malaysia said on August 6.

However investigators in France are yet to confirm the link, causing frustration among the families of victims.

France has also dismissed Malaysian claims that more debris has been found.

The Boeing 777 was travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, when it vanished from radar. It had 239 people on board, most of them Chinese.

For a third day, relatives angered by mixed messages from the authorities and distrusting official announcements are staging a small protest outside Malaysia Airlines’ offices in Beijing.

The French government said in a statement that a military Casa aircraft would begin surveying the area around Reunion on August 7, along with helicopter and boat patrols and search teams on foot.MH370 Reunion search

Saying it recognized the pain for the families, the statement said France would play its full part in international efforts to “shed light on this tragedy”.

The wing section found on Reunion, known as a flaperon, is being examined in the French city of Toulouse by international aviation experts.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said paint and “many other technical details” on the flaperon tallied with MH370’s maintenance records.

Window panes and seat cushions had also been found near Reunion which were yet to be identified, he said.

French officials, however, have said no other debris has been recovered, and have only said there is a strong possibility that the flaperon came from MH370.

Liow Tiong Lai said he understood why the French team had been less categorical in their conclusions over the flaperon, saying: “We respect their decision to continue with their verification.”

China’s foreign ministry said Malaysia must keep investigating the crash and “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests” of relatives.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has been co-ordinating the deep-sea hunt in the southern Indian Ocean, where the plane is believed to have gone down, thousands of miles east of Reunion.

Australia’s PM Tony Abbott said that search would continue as “we owe it to the hundreds of millions of people who use our skies”.

A second piece of plane suspected to come from the missing flight MH370 has washed ashore on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion.

A wing part was also found on July 29.

The object, believed to be the door of an aircraft, was discovered just south of the city of St Denis.

It is said to have writing on it and possibly some illustration.

The Malaysia Airlines plane from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared in March 2014 with 239 people on board.MH370 debris Reunion 2015

The first piece of wreckage has gone to France, where investigators in the city of Toulouse will seek to establish if it came from MH370.

It is believed to be a wing flap from a Boeing 777 – the same type of aircraft as the one that vanished.

Fragments of a suitcase found on the same beach in St Andre are also to be examined.

Investigators will begin work on August 5.

An Australian-led search effort for the plane has been focused on a vast area of the southern Indian Ocean about 2,500 miles to the east of Reunion.

Authorities believe MH370 veered off course on the way to Beijing and crashed into the sea – but they do not know why.

The estimated last location of missing flight MH370 was based on “pings” sent from the aircraft that were detected by satellite.

However, no physical trace has been found.

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Malaysia PM Najib Razak has announced that debris found on the Indian Ocean island of Reunion is to be transported to France to find out whether it is from the missing airliner MH370.

Initial reports suggest the 2-meter long wreckage is very likely to be from a Boeing 777, the prime minister said.

Malaysia Airlines’ flight MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to have disappeared over an ocean.

There were 239 people on board when the plane went missing in March 2014.

Razak Najib said French authorities were taking the debris to the southern French city of Toulouse – the site of the nearest office of the French body responsible for air accident investigations (the BEA) – to verify it as quickly as possible.

A Malaysian team of investigators and representatives from the government and the airline was travelling to Toulouse, and a second team to the site of the find on Reunion, the prime minister said.MH370 debris Reunion

Najib Razak said the location was “consistent with the drift analysis provided to the Malaysian investigation team”.

“As soon as we have more information or any verification we will make it public…

“I promise the families of those lost that whatever happens, we will not give up.”

Aviation experts who have studied photos of the debris found on Reunion on July 29 say it does resemble a flaperon – a moving part of the wing surface – from a Boeing 777.

On July 30, a municipal employee found what appeared to be a very badly damaged suitcase on the Reunion coast, according to local media.

The item was found at Saint-Andre, the same location as the earlier debris.

Reunion, a French overseas department, is about 370 miles east of Madagascar.

The search efforts for MH370, led by Australia, are focused on a broad expanse of the southern Indian Ocean – around 2,500 miles to the east of Reunion.

After MH370 disappeared from radar screens, experts analyzed data from faint “pings” the aircraft sent to satellites to narrow down its last known location.

It was this information that identified the search area in the southern Indian Ocean, west of Perth.

A spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry said: “We have noticed the reports and are wasting no time in obtaining and checking the information.”

More than half of those on board the missing plane were Chinese citizens.

A group of relatives of many of the Chinese passengers said in a statement that they wanted “100%” certainty about where the part is from, and that the search for the airliner should continue.

Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean has been put on red alert in preparation for the arrival of cyclone Bejisa.

French officials said the “danger was imminent” and residents have been told to remain indoors.

Meteorologists say the cyclone is heading from the north to the south-east of the island.

They say cyclone Bejisa is likely to have weakened in intensity by the time it actually makes landfall.

Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean has been put on red alert in preparation for the arrival of cyclone Bejisa

Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean has been put on red alert in preparation for the arrival of cyclone Bejisa

But they warn that winds could exceed 124mph with waves reaching as high as 30ft.

The Roland Garros airport has been closed and transport and postal services have been suspended.

Preparations for the cyclone have been under way since Tuesday as the island continues to be be battered by torrential rain with swells lashing coastal areas.

Residents have been stocking up on foodstuffs, water and batteries and emergency services are on standby.

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