Begue found a wing fragment known as a flaperon on July 29 that French investigators identified in September as part of the passenger jet that disappeared with 239 people aboard on March 8, 2014.

Begue said that unlike the flaperon there were no barnacles on the latest item, which he said was square and estimated that it measured 40 by 40 centimetres.

A Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, similar to the aircraft that vanished on March 8, 2014. Wen Yongsheng was among the 239 passengers and crew aboard MH370.

"I was running. After, when I stopped to rest, that's when I found the piece" lying on the stony beach several meters from the water, Begue said by telephone. "The same beach and nearly the same place."

He said the piece he found on the Saint-Andre beach was thinner and smaller than the flaperon, but the material had the same appearance, with a honeycombed interior.