Malaysia says debris found in Thailand not from MH370

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said on Tuesday that the debris found in Thailand was not from the long-missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

A metal object found in Thailand during the weekend fuelled speculation that it was from the missing Boeing 777, Xinhua reported.

Liow said a Malaysian team of officials from the Department of Civil Aviation, transport ministry, and Malaysia Airlines has examined the recovered debris.

"From their detailed report, they have ascertained that the part assembly number, wire bundle number and bolts part number do not match those of a Boeing 777," he said in a statement.

"Additionally, the part numbers which were found on the recovered debris are not listed in the MAS B777 Illustrated Parts Catalogue manual. Based on these identifying details, the team has confirmed that the debris does not belong to a B777 9M-MRO aircraft (MH370)," he added.

Liow said Malaysia remained committed to continuing the search effort in the Southern Indian Ocean.

The aircraft on MH370 flight disappeared on March 8, 2014, morning soon after take-off from Kuala Lumpur for Beijing with a total of 239 passengers on board, most of them Chinese.

Malaysian and French authorities said last year that an aircraft flaperon found on the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion belonged to the missing plane.