MH370: World's eyes on Reunion Island

The barnacle-covered plane piece was found by a crew cleaning the coastline. Photo: AFP / Getty Images

Reunion Island is being scoured for clues after debris washed ashore yesterday sparking speculation that it may belong to MH370, the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared in 2014.

The barnacle-covered plane piece was found by a crew cleaning the coastline on Wednesday, the NBC reported.

Biology expert confirms barnacles on debris have been there a year - the same time the Malaysian Airlines flight disappeared.

Malaysian experts are on their way to the island to study the plane debris.

Sébastien Gignoux, a reporter at the Journal de l'île de la Réunion told the

"People are talking a lot about it on radios...Every one has his idea about what it is." (sic)
Gignoux said there were not many people going to the beach to look for more debris as it was a rock beach and not very easy to access.

However there were a lot of journalists starting to arrive on the island, he said.

Police had done a search on foot yesterday morning local-time for more pieces of debris, while an army vessel searched the seaside.

Then on the orders of a judge leading the investigation from Paris, a helicopter from the French paramilitary police (gendarmes or gendarmerie) flew yesterday afternoon above the area to take pictures.

Foot patrols from police and the gendarmerie would continue from time to time on the coast to see if there was anything else coming, Gignoux said.

At 7am yesterday a man, a member of the group that found the aircraft debris on Wednesday, found something else that looked like a suitcase, he said.

The suitcase discovery comes after Malaysian officials said it was "almost certain" the wing flap came from a Boeing 777 - the same model as the Malaysian airlines jet.

The wreckage will be sent to Toulouse in France on Saturday (local time) for analysis to see if it is from MH370.