Australian announcement about pieces found in South Africa and Mauritius means a total of five pieces of debris have now been confirmed from missing jet

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

Two aircraft fragments found on the beaches of South Africa and Mauritius are all but confirmed to be from missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which mysteriously disappeared two years ago with 239 people on board.

A piece of engine cowling featuring a Rolls-Royce stencil, which was found in South Africa earlier this year, is “almost certainly” from the Boeing 777 that went missing more than two years ago with 239 people on board, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau said on Thursday.

The second piece found on 30 March in Mauritius – eight days after the engine cowling – is “almost certainly” a panel segment from MH370’s main cabin.

The pattern, colour and texture of the internal panel laminate was only used by Malaysia Airlines on Boeing 777s and 747s, according to the ATSB.

“There is no record of the laminate being used by any other Boeing 777 customer,” the report said.

Both pieces were found to have marine ecology attached to them, which the ATSB has preserved.

MH370: two years on, mystery still no closer to a solution Read more

The announcement means a total of five pieces of debris from the Malaysian Airlines’ jet have now been discovered in various spots around the Indian Ocean since it vanished on 8 March, 2014 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

In March, investigators confirmed two pieces of debris found along Mozambique’s coast were almost certainly from the aircraft.

Last year, a wing part from the plane washed ashore on France’s Reunion Island.

Flight 370 is believed to have crashed in a remote stretch of the southern Indian Ocean but an ongoing search found nothing so far.

More than 105,000 sq km of the southern Indian Ocean seafloor has been scoured for the missing flight.

The governments of Malaysia, Australia and China maintain the search area will not be expanded beyond the current 120,000 sq km zone in the absence of credible new information.