A South African archaeologist has found a piece of debris stamped with part of engine maker Rolls-Royce's logo that could possibly belong to Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.
Neels Kruger found the debris on Monday near Mossel Bay, a small town in Western Cape province, and Malaysia's transport minister said Tuesday that a team will be sent to examine the latest piece to see if it is from the missing plane.
Kruger said he came across the debris while walking with his family along the river mouth in Little Brak River. As an archaeologist, he quickly spotted the debris that did not seem to fit with the natural surroundings and he suspected that it could be from one of the engines of flight MH370.
He immediately contacted the relevant departments and believes his suspicions are true.
"I contacted the South African Civil Aviation Authority and sent them images and the location here, the location of the find. And also, then I came in contact with the Australian air traffic safety bureau, and they then advised me to please just kind of try and preserve it in more or less its original state or the state that I found it in and just keep it secure. So we bubble wrapped it and try to just keep it safe for now," said Kruger.
Kruger said he hopes his find will bring investigators one step closer to solving the mystery of MH370, and help comfort the families and friends of those who were on board.
The South African Civil Aviation Authority said it had made arrangements to collect the discovered debris and would then hand it over to the relevant Malaysian authorities.
Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It had 239 people on board, most of them Chinese nationals. A joint search operation in the southern Indian Ocean, where the flight is presumed to have ended its journey, has yet to find its wreckage.
Two other pieces of possible debris from MH370 were found earlier this month in Mozambique. Malaysian officials said Thursday that the two pieces found in Mozambique were consistent with parts on a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 and hence were almost certainly from the missing flight.
