KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 15 — Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai today confirmed that the large piece of plane debris found off the coast of Tanzania back in June is from missing flight Malaysia Airlines MH370.

Liow said the debris found was confirmed to be an inboard section of a Boeing 777 outboard flap with a date stamp consistent with MH370’s delivery date, with the Italian manufacturer also confirming that all numbers on the said part relates to the same serial number outboard flap that was shipped to Boeing as line number 404, the same aircraft line number that was delivered to Malaysian Airlines registered as 9M-MRO (MH370).

“As such, the experts have concluded that the debris, an outboard flap originated from the aircraft 9M-MRO, also known as MH370,” he said in a statement today.

“Further examination of the debris will continue, in hopes that further evidence may be uncovered which may provide new insight into the circumstances surrounding flight MH370,” he added.

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Liow said that the ministry will continue to provide updates as and when new information becomes available.

The examination of the debris was conducted by the Australian Safety Bureau (ATSB).

The debris was found on June 20 on the island of Pemba off the coast of Tanzania this year, with authorities suspecting early on that it was “highly likely” from MH370.

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Previously, investigators had also confirmed a piece of plane debris found on the shores of Reunion Island on July last year to be part of MH370.

More debris found in Mozambique, South Africa and Mauritius’s Rodrigues Island have also since been said to be likely parts of the missing plane.

Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014 shortly after taking off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing with 239 passengers and crew onboard.

The Malaysia-China-Australia tripartite had in July announced it would be suspending the search of the vanished aircraft after completing the priority 120,000 sq km search area, which is estimated to completed between October and December.