(KUALA LUMPUR): A large piece of debris that was discovered on Pemba island off the Tanzanian coast on Jun 20 came from missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, Malaysia's Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai confirmed on Thursday (Sep 15).

In a statement, Mr Liow said this was deduced by experts from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) with the concurrence of the MH370 Safety Investigation Team.

Earlier, in July, Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester had said that it was "highly likely" the part came from the ill-fated Boeing.

One of the reasons was that "several part numbers, along with physical appearance, dimensions and construction confirmed the piece to be an inboard section of a Boeing 777 outboard flap", said the minister.

He added that a date stamp associated with one of the part numbers indicated manufacture on Jan 23, 2002, which is consistent with the May 31, 2002 delivery date for MH370.