Search efforts intensified as new debris washed up
ATP- Arab tourism portal- Kuala Lumpur- France has ramped up its search off the coast of Reunion after additional debris, including a plane window and aluminum foil were found last Friday.
The latest finds have not been confirmed as coming from MH370."We have decided to deploy additional aerial and maritime assets to search for potential new debris off Reunion Island," France’s Defence Ministry said in a statement on its website.
The French decision to devote additional planes, helicopters, patrol boats and personnel to the area came as Malaysia also appealed to the governments of Mauritius and Madagascar east of Reunion to help widen the search area.
However, Malaysia’s request to extend the original search area in the southern Indian Ocean is likely to meet with resistance in Australia, which has largely funded the search effort and is opposed to expanding expensive underwater searches without strong evidence.
An initial search of a 60,000 sq km patch of sea floor has been extended to another 60,000 sq km but has so far returned no evidence.
The discovery of the flaperon sparked anger and scepticism among grieving Chinese families who want clearer answers and have accused Malaysia of withholding information.
Brian Alexander, a lawyer with US firm Kreindler & Kreindler, which represents 48 families of MH370 passengers from around the world, said the flaperon alone would be unlikely to present enough evidence to inform a legal case.
"One piece is unlikely to be too important as to causation," Alexander said. "It they recover additional pieces and additional evidence, there could be a different dynamic from the legal perspective concerning airline manufacturers."
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