'Massive breakthrough': Flight MH370 'crashed violently'

Jacquita Gomes and Blaine Alan Gibson, right, a representative of the next of kin of MH370, show a piece of debris believed to be from MH370. Photo / AP

There has been a "massive breakthrough" in the search for missing flight MH370 - with the unveiling of five new pieces of debris found washed up on a beach.

There has been a "massive breakthrough" in the search for missing flight MH370 - with the unveiling of five new pieces of debris found washed up on a beach.

On Friday, relatives of those on board Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 handed over new debris, including a floor panel of a Boeing aircraft, believed to be from the ill-fated plane which mysteriously disappeared four years ago.

Speaking at a news conference yesterday, Jacquita Gonzales, the wife of MH370 Steward Patrick Gomes, held up new debris to the cameras as other relatives begged the government to allow search efforts to continue. The family members also demanded a fresh inquiry into the Malaysia Airlines mystery.

V.R. Nathan, whose wife Anne Daisy was on the doomed jet, said the debris consisted of five small plane parts found off Madagascar.

They were turned over to Malaysian Transport Minister Anthony Loke on Friday at his office in the administrative capital Putrajaya outside Kuala Lumpur.

"Five new pieces of debris have been recovered off the coast of Madagascar, including one piece that has part of a label still readable," Mr Nathan said, adding the items were discovered by fishermen.

"We want the government to continue searching for these debris and piece them together like a jigsaw puzzle so that we can get some clue as to what happened to the plane." His daughter Grace told reporters the items were found between December 2016 and August 2018, adding that "this … offers a fresh ray of hope to all the relatives."

Grace described the latest discoveries as a "massive breakthrough".

"The fact that debris is still washing up now means that the investigation should still be live," she said.

"It shouldn't be closed."