Malaysian Airlines (MAS) said it is too early to speculate whether the plane debris washed up on an Indian Ocean island could be part of missing MAS flight MH370.

“With regards to the reports of the discovery of an aircraft flaperon at Reunion Island, Malaysia Airlines is working with the relevant authorities to confirm the matter.

“At the moment, it would be too premature for the airline to speculate the origin of the flaperon,” MAS said in a statement today.

The two-meter (six-foot) long piece of wreckage, which seemed to be part of a wing, was found by people cleaning up a beach.

French air transport officials have already opened a probe to investigate where the wreckage could have come from.

PHOTO GALLERY: Could this be MH370?

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said Malaysia has sent a team to verify whether plane debris washed up on an Indian Ocean island could be part of MH370.

The washing up of the mysterious plane debris on the French island of La Reunion prompted swift speculation that it could be part of the missing aircraft.

"Whatever wreckage found needs to be further verified before we can further confirm whether it belongs to MH370," Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters in New York.

Debris

The Boeing 777-200ER carrying 239 passengers, mostly Chinese, and crew, was scheduled to land in Beijing at 6:30 am on March 8, 2014. It is believed to have ended in the Indian Ocean.

The Department of Civil Aviation on January 29 announced Flight MH370 was officially declared an accident under international aviation rules, and that all 239 passengers and crew were presumed to have lost their lives.