Unidentified Material Found Along Australian Coast: Is It From MH370?

PERTH, Australia (TheBlaze/AP) — Authorities say unidentified material that washed ashore in southwestern Australia is being examined for any link to the lost Malaysian plane.

The search coordination center said Wednesday evening that police secured the material that washed ashore 6 miles east of Augusta in Western Australia. Its statement did not describe the material found. Photos of it were provided to Malaysian officials, but have not yet been released publicly.

Relatives of Chinese passengers on board the Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 raise their hands to show their agreement to a decision made during a meeting with Malaysia Airlines staff in Beijing Wednesday. Unidentified material that has washed ashore in southwestern Australia is being examined for any link to the lost Malaysian plane, authorities in Australia said Wednesday. (AP/Ng Han Guan)

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is examining photographs to assess whether further investigation is needed and if the material is relevant to Flight MH370.

“That’s not been verified yet as a part of the aircraft. We have not received any verification, any information that is related to MH370," Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, head of Malaysia’s Civil Aviation Department, said at a press briefing.

News.com.au reported that investigators said the more they look at the material, the "less excited" they are about the possibility that it's plane debris.

In the 47 days since the plane and the 239 people on board went missing, no materials have been found.

Despite recent reports that officials might reconsider the possibility that the plane landed elsewhere, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott maintained that "expert advice is that the aircraft went down somewhere in the Indian Ocean."