Mauritius debris confirmed as part of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

CANBERRA, Australia, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- Debris recovered on the island of Mauritius in May is a part of the wing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 which disappeared in 2014, investigators said Friday.

The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau confirmed that the item, made of composite material and stamped with identification numbers, is the trailing edge splice strap, part of the rear spar assembly of a flap on a wing of the Boeing 777.

The plane veered off course and vanished on March 8, 2014, while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The 239 people on board are presumed dead.

The finding was confirmed by Liow Tiong Lai, Malaysian transport minister.

The ATSB refers to the debris in an investigative report as "part number 6," and positively identified it as part of Flight MH370. Other pieces of the plane have been found on Reunion Island and off the coast of Tanzania, areas on the Indian Ocean considerably west of the presumed crash site. The main wreckage of the plane, or its flight recorders, has not been found.