Wreckage of Boeing 777 from Reunion Island sent to France

(Vatican Radio)  Part of an aeroplane plane wing that washed up on the French territory of Reunion Island is being examined in France. The discovery has boosted hopes for the investigation into missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, which disappeared more than a year ago.

Listen to Alastair Wanklyn's report:

Air crash investigators in the French city of Toulouse were expected to examine the metal wing flap for identification marks and clues as to how the plane may have come down.

On Monday, Malaysia's government said the part is from a Boeing 777, the model that disappeared in March last year.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said the investigation remains active. "If that wreckage belongs to MH370, then the International Independent Investigation Team for MH370 will have to handle this investigation into this wreckage immediately."

The wreckage washed up on Reunion Island, off the coast of Madagascar. In the local town of Saint Andre on Sunday, churchgoers attended Mass for the victims.

Some relatives of the 239 people missing have said the discovery gives them hope that what happened aboard the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing will one day be known.

For now, it remains unclear where the victims died. Australia continues to coordinate a program to map a large strip of sea bed in the southern Indian Ocean, a survey which so far has turned up no sign of the plane.