A DIPLOMAT investigating doomed flight flight MH370 has been gunned down, has fuelled new conspiracy theories about the missing Malaysian Airlines jet.

Honorary Consul of Malaysia Zahid Raza was shot dead in Madagascar's capital Antananarivo in an apparent assassination last week.

4 MH370 wreck hunter Blaine Gibson claims Malaysian diplomat Zahid Raza was assassinated before he could ensure the debris was safely delivered to Malaysia Credit: EPA

4 The Honorary Consul of Malaysia in Antananarivo, Zahid Raza, is pictured slumped in his bullet-ridden car minutes after his 'assassination' on August 24

American adventurer-detective Blaine Gibson, who has been gathering suspected MH370 debris as it washes up on Madagascar and Mozambique, said Mr Raza had been due to deliver new items to Malaysian investigators in Kuala Lumpur when he was unexpectedly slain.

The timing has rattled Mr Gibson, who says he has been receiving death threats because of his self-financed mission to solve the baffling aviation mystery.

He had planned to keep details of his latest finds — which included two items he considered particularly promising — under wraps until they had been safely transported off the island but changed his mind after Mr Raza was killed.

“For the protection of those involved we decided not to make this report public until the debris was safely delivered to Malaysia,” Mr Gibson reported in his blog.

“However tragic events have intervened. Under the agreement between the two countries, debris is supposed to be collected by Hon. Zahid Raza, the Honorary Malaysian Consul in Madagascar, and delivered by private courier to Malaysia.

“On August 24, the Hon. Zahid Raza was assassinated in Antananarivo.”

4 A Boeing 777 flaperon cut down to match the one from flight MH370 found on Reunion island off the coast of Africa in 2015, is lowered into water to discover its drift

In total 1.5 per cent of the earth's surface has been searched for the missing plane Credit: Aidan Ellis

4 A large piece of debris found in Tanzania recently which has been confirmed as a part of a wing flap from missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet MH370 Credit: AFP or licensors

Dr Victor Iannello, who was an original member of the independent group of specialists that helped Australian investigators try to pinpoint MH370’s crash site in the southern Indian Ocean off WA, said Mr Gibson had good reason to be concerned.

“Last December, Reuters reported that Mr Raza assisted Blaine Gibson in transferring the custody of pieces believed to be from MH370 from Madagascar to Malaysia,” Dr Iannello wrote in his blog about the disturbing chain of events.

“At that time, six pieces were transferred. This has raised questions as to whether there was a link between those MH370 parts and Mr Raza’s death.

“What makes a possible link to MH370 even more suspicious is that in the time period surrounding his death, Mr Raza was expected to visit the Malagasy Ministry of Transport, retrieve additional recovered pieces, and deliver those pieces to Malaysia.”

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Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 en route to Beijing from the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur.

The jet was carrying 239 crew and passengers, including six Australians, on board.

Multiple pieces of wreckage, including a barnacle entrusted flaperon, the iconic “No Step” piece and at least one section of interior cabin, have been confirmed as having come from the missing Boeing 777 after washing up on islands off Africa’s south-east coast.

The fuselage and black box have never been found, leading to countless conspiracy theories about how, where and why the plane went down and whether authorities and associated companies such as Boeing orchestrated a cover up to protect their interests.

A map showing pieces of debris scattered from the Malaysia Airlines jet that went missing in 2014 Credit: AFP

So it should come as no surprise that Mr Raza’s assassination is being viewed by some as a warning to anyone getting close to the truth.

However, local reports suggest Mr Raza was a marked man long before Mr Gibson came along.

The French-language news website ZINFOS 974 speculated Mr Raza was killed as payback for his alleged involvement in the 2009 abduction of several residents of Indo-Pakistani descent known collectively as Karens.

Conspiracy theories over missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 jet MH370’s disappearance has given rise to a slew of conspiracy theories including: Pilot deliberarely crashed the plane Wreckage from the flight was cited as evidence by some that the plane was crashed into the ocean on purpose. Analysis of a wing flap, which washed ashore in Tanzania, suggests the plane plunged into the sea in a ‘death dive’. Experts have said the wing flap was not deployed at the time of impact, ruling out a controlled crash landing. It was also revealed that the pilot who flew MH370 had practised crashing a plane into the Indian Ocean on a simulator just weeks before it disappeared. Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah used an elaborate home-built flight simulator to steer himself over the Strait of Malacca and into the remote southern Indian ocean. The route he took was chillingly similar to the one the missing plane took the day it vanished from the sky in March 2014. His family have always rejected the claims. Fateful toilet break

An unfortunately timed bathroom break could have doomed Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, a book claimed last year. Aviation journalist Christine Negroni has suggested the plane’s pilot may have taken a break leaving a first officer with limited flight experience in control of the aircraft when tragedy struck. Plane was shot down by US military

French ex-airline director Marc Dugain accused the US military of shooting down the plane because they feared it had been hijacked. A book called Flight MH370 – The Mystery also suggested that it had been shot down accidentally by US-Thai joint jet fighters suring a military exercise and then covered it up. Russia hijacking

Russian President Vladimir Putin was accused of being involved in the hijacking of MH370. by a US Science writer. Jeff Wise claimed Putin “spoofed” the plane’s navigation data so it could fly unnoticed into Baikonur Cosmodrome so he could “hurt the West”. A life insurance scam

Malaysia police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar suggested that the crash could have been suicide. He said that someone on-board could have taken out a large life insurance package before getting on the plane, so they could treat their family or pay back money they owed.

“Zahid Raza was the manager of an office supply business, Z & Z Center, in the Malagasy capital. He lived a few years in La Reunion before returning to Madagascar about three years ago to take up the post of consul in Antananarivo,” the article, published the day after the slaying, said.

“In Madagascar, his name is associated with the kidnapping of members of the Karen community in Fianarantsoa in 2009. Suspected of having participated, he is imprisoned in Tsiafahy and then in Antanimora prison. He was able to return to his country freely in December 2010, provoking indignation within the Karen community.”

But Dr Iannello said it appeared Mr Raza had not been convicted of any such crime.

“The association of Mr Raza with the kidnappers has not been confirmed, and could be disinformation,” he said.

“Hopefully, the facts surrounding this will surface. Surprisingly, the assassination of Mr Raza has been met with stony silence from both Malaysia and France, despite his ties to both countries.”

Meanwhile, as the investigation into Mr Raza’s murder continues, Mr Gibson’s new possible MH370 debris remains with Madagascar authorities until new arrangements can be made to send them to Malaysia.

A version of this story originally appeared on News.com.au.