Malaysian Official: More Plane Debris Found on Reunion Island

But Liow Tiong Lai says he cannot confirm they belong to Malaysia Airlines flight 370, which went missing on March 8, 2014 with 239 people on board. "I can only ascertain that it's plane debris."

Liow told reporters, "there are many items collected" from the Indian Ocean island where a wing part was found last week, which was confirmed earlier Thursday to be from Flight 370.

He said the new debris has been sent, "to the French authorities for verification. I cannot confirm that it's from MH370."

Liow said Malaysia has asked authorities in neighboring areas, including Mauritius and Madagascar, to help widen the search by combing their beaches for possible debris.

It has been more than a year since Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished with 239 people aboard, and relatives are still seeking closure to one of aviation's greatest mysteries.

In a breakthrough in the long search for answers, a piece of a wing called a flaperon was found washed up on the French island of Reunion in the western Indian Ocean last week.

After initial examination in France by investigators from Europe, Malaysia, China and Australia, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced early Thursday that the debris belonged to MH370.

But other officials were less confident about the origin of the flaperon. French, Australian and U.S. authorities stopped short of full confirmation.

Relatives of passengers who were on missing flight MH370 say that without substantial evidence, they still cannot accept that their loved ones died in a crash and insist that the search must go on.