MH370 search must go on: Tony Abbott

KUALA LUMPUR: After tests in France on Wednesday confirmed that the debris found on Reunion beach belonged to the missing Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777, Australia has announced that it will continue to lead the search operations.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Thursday that the search “must go on” and that the discovery indicated the plane had crashed close to the place they had previously thought it had.

“What we have found in the West Indian Ocean does seem to indicate that the plane did come down more or less where we thought it did and it suggests for the first time we might be a little bit closer to solve this baffling mystery,” Abbott is quoted by Australian daily newspaper, The Age, on its online version on Thurday.

The Age stated reports that Australia has spent more than Australian $100 million (around RM285m) on the mission so far.

He said, “I believe it is appropriate because not only were there six Australians on that plane, but millions of Australians - nearly every Australian - at some point in time is an air traveller. We owe it to the hundreds of millions of people who use out the sky to ensure their travel is as safe as it possibly can be, to try to get to the bottom of this terrible mystery.”

August 6, 2015