Search for more MH370 debris continues off Reunion: France

France has said the hunt for more MH370 debris will continue for at least a week off Reunion after a wing section was spotted near the island.

A military transport plane was patrolling the seas off the coast and a ship had departed for the search, Xinhua quoted Dominique Sorain, administrator of the French overseas island as saying on Friday.

There will be part of the forces combing the eastern part of the island where a flaperon confirmed by Malaysia as part of the plane was discovered last week.

He said the scrutinised area will span from the island up to a search zone under the control of Mauritius authorities.

"We have urged all ships, both fishing and commercial, to immediately contact Reunion's regional operation centre for surveillance and rescue," he said.

The new possible parts of a plane, some of them the size of a finger, have been submitted to authorities by local residents.

With regards to victims' families who wish to come to the Reunion island, Sorain said if necessary, he will contact the authorities of the concerned countries.

Meanwhile, an official from the Maldives police service (MPS) said a police team along with aviation experts has started probing a piece of suspected plane debris found on the beach of a private resort in Maldives.

According to local media reports, the piece, probably a plane part which is five to seven inches long, was discovered in May.

Graham Braithwaite, aviation security expert at Britain's Cranfield said the search for the black box is still the core objective, as the data within it is key to solving all the mysteries.

In fact, as such a long time has passed, precisely locating the black box is already too hard, but the discovery of the debris at least indicates that the search is in correct direction.

Prior to the la Reunion discoveries, a massive surface and underwater hunt had failed to locate the plane, which went missing in 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

Australia, the country that now leads the international search team, vowed it would continue the search efforts and maintain "a crucial role", according to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss.

Braithwaite asked Australia to expand its current search area and called for a concerted effort that involves assistance from Malaysia, Britain, China and the International Maritime Satellite Organisation.