MH370: Three new pieces of airplane debris to be examined in Australia

Three new pieces of airplane debris believed to be from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 are set to be examined in Australia, the country's transport minister announced on Thursday.

Two of the new pieces of debris are coming from the small nation of Mauritius while the third piece was found in Mozambique, Transport Minister Darren Chester said.

"The Malaysian government is yet to take custody of the items; however, as with previous items, Malaysian officials are arranging collection and it is expected the items will be brought to Australia for examination," Chester said.

"These items of debris are of interest and will be examined by experts," he added.

Flight MH370 disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people on board.

The latest news follows an announcement earlier this month that pieces of debris found in South Africa and Mauritius were thought to be "almost certainly" from MH370 after examination by experts in Australia.

According to the Joint Agency Coordination Centre -- the Australian body in charge of the Indian Ocean search for the missing Boeing 777 -- more than 105,000 sq km of the 120,000 sq km "search zone" in the southern Indian Ocean has been combed for evidence of the missing jetliner.