KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 5 — Malaysia has dispatched Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) officers to Madagascar to help identify a piece of debris which could be from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, says Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

He said the standard operating procedures (SOP) in handling the debris involved either Malaysia sending its officers there or the debris being transferred here for identification.

But, he said that in view of the alleged assassination last month of Malaysian honororay consul to Madagascar, Zahid Houseinaly Reza, who was helping in the recovery process of debris washed up on the island, relevant officers had been dispatched there.

"Instead of sending the debris here, we’ve sent our officers there,” he told reporters when queried on the matter after opening the World Maritime Day 2017 here today.

He also urged the public to refrain from making any speculation and let the police do their job.

The aircraft with 239 people aboard vanished on March 8, 2014 en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in what has been described as the world’s biggest aviation mystery. — Bernama