Has MH370 debris washed up in the Maldives?

Investigators examine items found where locals say they 'saw a low-flying jet' on the day the plane vanished 

• Reports emerge that 'plane debris' washed up in the Maldives on May 31
• Maldives locals report seeing a 'low-flying jet' on the day MH370 disappeared 
• Airline employee insists suspected find 'changes everything' about search
• Police are reported to have removed the parts for further analysis 

Debris from the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 may have washed up on an island in Maldives, in the Indian Ocean, according to local newspaper reports.

Police have yet to confirm the reports, but plane debris is said to have been found in Baa Atoll Fehendhoo and Fulhahdhoo, both in the Southern Maalhosmadulhu Atoll.

The island of Noonu Atoll, in Miladhunmadulu Atoll, is also said to have yielded a discovery, according to the news website Haveeru.

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'Plane debris': Objects believed to be part of the missing Malaysia Airlines MH370 flight are claimed to have washed up in the Maldives. The pieces bear a striking resemblance to the piece found at Reunion Island in July, which has been confirmed to belong to the missing plane

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Identifying mark: One of the pieces shows the letters IC written in red, although the rest of the letters have been scraped off. Police are reported to have taken the pieces to be identified

A photograph of one of the large pieces of metal found near the Banyan Tree resort on Vabbinfaru island bears a striking resemblance to the barnacle-covered wing part that washed up on Reunion island in July, a distance of 2,000 miles from the Maldives.

Maldives resident Mohamed Wafir, who posted the original photographs to Facebook, claimed that they were found on May 31.

One airline employee, James Hardy, insisted that the potential find is more significant than the wreckage found on Reunion Island, and ‘changes everything’ about the investigation.

‘I and my friends who also work in aviation who have seen these photos all believe they appear to be aircraft parts, due to the honeycomb construction,’ Mr Hardy told the Before It’s News website.

Video shows the drift of debris from MH370 to Reunion Island

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Eye-witness reports: Locals from the island of Kudahuvadhoo in the Maldives reported witnessing 'a low-flying jumbo jet' on the morning of March 8 last year when MH370 disappeared

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Investigation: Locals are claiming to have found more pieces of the MH370 flight in the Maldives (circled). The distance between Reunion and the Maldives is 2,000 miles. A two-metre-long section of wreckage was discovered on the island of La Reunion (left), east of Madagascar, more than 3,800 miles away from where the aircraft was last seen, north of Kuala Lumpur and some 3,000 miles from the search area west of Australia

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Find that 'changes everything': Locals claim that debris from the missing MH370 jet washed up on three islands in the Maalhosmadulu Atoll and the Miladhunmadulu Atoll (pictured). The Maldives are located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of India

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Confirmed find: Officers carry the 6ft-long wing flap found on a beach in Saint-Andre on Reunion island after it was discovered in July

He added that, if the find can be verified, ‘it would rule out the current search area off Perth as I am certain that the tides and currents could never have pushed it that far'.

Mr Hardy is reported to have added that the location of the debris matches the calculations that he and Quantas pilots had done in relation to fuel endurance.

‘If flown low and slow there was more than enough fuel to reach the Maldives.’

One of the pieces carried, in red, the letters IC. The rest of the letters or numbers have been eroded. 

Police are reported to have removed the parts for further analysis. 

Further plane debris was reported to have washed up on a beach on the North Male Atoll resort a month ago. 

If it is confirmed to belong to the missing Boeing 777, the debris would help the investigation pinpoint exactly where the plane went down.