Wing part found on Mauritius island confirmed to be part of crashed Malaysian flight MH370

Malaysian and Australian officials say a piece of an aircraft wing found on the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius has been identified as belonging to missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

The piece of wing flap was found in May and subsequently analysed by experts at the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, which is heading up the search for the plane in a remote stretch of ocean off Australia’s west coast.

On Friday, the agency said investigators had used a part number found on the debris to link it to the missing Boeing 777.

Several pieces of wreckage from the plane have washed ashore on coastlines around the Indian Ocean since the aircraft vanished with 239 people on board during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing on March 8, 2014.