Australian authorities refute theory MH370 caught on fire

The analysis of the debris found in the Indian Ocean from the Malaysian Airlines plane, missing since 2014 with 239 people on board, showed no signs of exposure to fire, official sources said Thursday.

The investigation focused on two fiber pieces found near Sainte Luce in southeastern Madagascar earlier this year. The pieces were handed over to Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) on Sept. 12.

The remains which the press had reported were burned could not be associated with the missing airplane, said Australian Transport Minister Darren Chester, specifying they found “no manufacturing identifiers (...) that provided clues as to the items’ origins.”

“At this stage it is not possible to determine whether the debris is from MH370 or indeed even a Boeing 777,” Chester said in a statement.

He also stressed that “contrary to speculation, there is no evidence the item was exposed to heat or fire.”

Australia is leading the operation, which includes Malaysia and China, to search for the wreckage of MH370 in an 120,000square kilometer area of the Indian Ocean off the Western Australia coast, and which is expected to conclude in December.

So far, pieces have been recovered from beaches in Reunion Island, Mozambique, Mauritius, South Africa and the French island of Rodrigues, and the authorities have confirmed the debris to be from the missing plane.

The Beijingbound Malaysia Airlines aircraft disappeared 40 minutes after takeoff from Kuala Lumpur, allegedly after someone turned off the communication systems of the plane.

The plane might have later crashed in a remote region of the Indian Ocean after running out of fuel.