News Guide: Malaysia links debris to MH370; others cautious

Nicolette Gomes, daughter of Patrick Gomes, in flight supervisor of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, poses for a portrait with her painting of the ill fated plane in Gomes's house outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as families waited for news on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. French and Malaysian experts on Wednesday began examining an airplane wing fragment that could offer the first tangible clue about the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished more than a year ago with 239 people aboard. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul) Nicolette Gomes, daughter of Patrick Gomes, in flight supervisor of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, poses for a portrait with her painting of the ill fated plane in Gomes's house outside Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as families waited for news on Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. French and Malaysian experts on Wednesday began examining an airplane wing fragment that could offer the first tangible clue about the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which vanished more than a year ago with 239 people aboard. (AP Photo/Joshua Paul)

By Associated Press August 6, 2015 4 min read

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) – Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced that a wing piece that washed up on Reunion Island last week is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. However, French, U.S. and Australian authorities stopped short of full confirmation, frustrating relatives with mixed messages.

A guide to the biggest aviation mystery’s latest twists.

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NAJIB’S STATEMENT

Past midnight in Kuala Lumpur, Najib appeared at a news conference announcing that the metal wing piece known as the flaperon that washed ashore on the French island of Reunion in the western Indian Ocean has been confirmed to belong to Flight 370 – making it the first part of the aircraft that has been found since the plane vanished on March 8, 2014, with 239 people aboard while on the way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.