Malaysia collects more plane parts of missing MH370

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Malaysia's transport minister says a Malaysian team at the French territory of Reunion Island has collected other plane debris including a window and some aluminum foil.

But Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai says he cannot confirm they belong to 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.

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

Liow says Malaysia has asked authorities in neighboring areas including Mauritius and Madagascar to help comb their beaches for possible debris to widen the search.

Liow says the maintenance records of Malaysia Airlines prove conclusively that the wing part found last week on an Indian Ocean island belonged to the missing Flight 370.

Liow told reporters that the Malaysian team, which is part of the investigations in France, is convinced that the one of the sealants on the wing part, known as flaperon, matches "with our maintenance records."

He said Thursday the paint color on the flaperon also matches with the airline's records.

He says he understands why the French team has been less categorical about declaring the part as belonging to Flight 370.

"We respect their decision to continue with their verification. They have more verification process to make, the paint, the sealant and so on," 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."