Relatives outside the Malaysia
Airlines offices in Beijing waved placards with slogans including "Give me
back my family" and "Mum will wait for you forever"
Relatives of those missing on
Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have vented anger at apparent mixed signals over
whether part of the plane has been found.
Malaysian PM Najib Razak said
experts in France had "conclusively confirmed" the wing part found on
an island in the Indian Ocean was from the aircraft.
But French investigators stopped
short of confirming the link, only saying it was highly likely.
Chinese relatives staged a protest
outside the airline's Beijing offices.
The Boeing 777 was travelling from
Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on 8 March 2014 when it vanished from radar. It had 239
people on board, most of them Chinese.
Debris found on the remote French
island of Reunion a week ago - a wing part known as a flaperon - was the first
possible physical trace of the aircraft.
Experts in the French city of
Toulouse resumed their tests on the object on Thursday.
Beaches on Reunion are being scoured
for more possible plane debris
In another development, the
Malaysian transport minister said more suspected plane debris had been found on
Reunion, including window panes and seat cushions.
Liow Tiong Lai said the items had
been sent to French authorities to be verified.
However, French investigators quoted
by AFP news agency said no new debris had been received.
Mr Liow also said elements of the
flaperon, including the paint colour, matched with maintenance records for the
missing flight.
The lack of unity over whether parts
of MH370 had been found has angered many of the families of those missing.
Who
has said what about the flaperon?
- Malaysian PM: "Experts have conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island is indeed from MH370."
- Malaysia Airlines: "This is indeed a major breakthrough for us."
- French investigators: "There exists a very high probability that the flaperon indeed belongs to Flight MH370."
- Australian PM: Debris "does seem to indicate the plane did come down more or less where we thought it did".
- Australian search team: "It is heartening that the discovery of the flaperon is consistent with our search area."
- Passenger's relative, Sara Weeks: "After 17 months, we need definite answers."
"Why the hell do you have one
confirm and one not?" asked Sara Weeks of Christchurch, New Zealand, whose
brother Paul Weeks was on board the flight.
"Why not wait and get everybody
on the same page so the families don't need to go through this turmoil?"
Many of the Chinese relatives have
consistently questioned the official view that the plane crashed.
Some gathered outside the Malaysia
Airlines offices in Beijing on Thursday to demand answers.
Among them was Dai Shuqin, sister of
one of the passengers.
"France is being cautious about
it, but Malaysia is desperate to put an end to this case and run away from all
responsibilities," she said.
"I don't believe this latest
information about the plane, they have been lying to us from the
beginning," Zhang Yongli, whose daughter was on board, told AFP news
agency.
"I know my daughter is out
there, but they won't tell us the truth."
Liu Kun, whose younger brother was
on the plane, said: "Find the people for us. We suspect that the plane
wreckage could be faked."
Media caption Malaysian Prime
Minister Najib Razak says the wreckage is from MH370
Mr Najib's announcement came after
the first day of tests on the flaperon in Toulouse.
He said investigators had
"conclusively confirmed that the aircraft debris found on Reunion Island
is indeed from MH370".
French prosecutor Serge Mackowiak
said only there were "very strong indications" this was the case, and
that confirmation would only come after further tests.
The BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris
said Mr Mackowiak's caution did not suggest he had doubts, but that he was
exercising legal caution.
Australia, which is leading the
search for the plane in the southern Indian Ocean, would only say that it
remained confident it was searching in the right area.
Australian Transport Minister Warren
Truss said Malaysia, which is in charge of the overall investigation, had the
right to express its view.
"We respect the view that they
believe they have sufficient evidence to make a categorical statement of that
nature,'' he said.
"The French inquiry, of course,
has not been quite so conclusive."
Media caption The BBC's Richard
Westcott explains how debris could have made its way to Reunion
Mr Liow said he understood why the
French team had been less categorical.
"We respect their decision to
continue with their verification," he said.
"For the Malaysian team, the
technical report and maintenance report that we have matched with the
flaperon... the expert team strongly feel and confirm that it is MH370."
Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister
Tony Abbott said the search for the body of the plane would continue as
"we owe it to the hundreds of millions of people who use our skies".
The Australian Transport Safety
Bureau (ATSB) has been co-ordinating the deep-sea hunt in the southern Indian
Ocean, where the plane is believed to have gone down, thousands of miles east
of Reunion.