Before a plane wing washed up on its beaches, Reunion Island was nothing but a speck on the map

UNTIL a council worker stumbled over the key to aviation’s biggest mystery — missing Flight MH370 — hardly anyone had even heard of tiny Reunion Island.

Island of secrets holds key to MH370

UNTIL a council worker stumbled over the key to aviation’s biggest mystery, tiny Reunion Island was known for two things: as home to one of the world’s most active volcanoes, and a bewildering explosion of deadly shark attacks.

And they were fine with that. Now, after 10 days of international laser focus, some residents of the French territory of Reunion would be perfectly happy if we would all just go away and leave them to their previously quiet lives.

But Wednesday’s confirmation by the Malaysian government that Johny Begue’s find was indeed a flaperon from MH370, which disappeared with 239 aboard on March 8 last year, means this won’t be possible. Reunion and its neighbouring Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and Rodrigues, as well the sprawling island nation of Madagascar, will become a new hub for the multinational task force investigating the airliner’s disappearance.

Mystery ... A Malaysian expert (centre) looks for debris from the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on a beach in Saint-Andre de la Reunion, on the French Reunion Island. Picture: AFP/ Richard Bouhet

A moment on the beach of St Andre last Tuesday reveals the tightly wound diplomatic tensions that characterise the investigation. Clearly weighed down by the intense media interest in his presence on the beach, a member of the four-person Malaysian team sent here last weekend sighed as he asked for patience.

“I know this is difficult, but we must respect the local authorities here and they are answerable to Paris,” said the man, who wished not to be identified.

“All I can say is that I am sorry. It would be different if we were in Malaysia, but we are not.”

His frustration was clear and his statement crystallises the challenge faced by the government with more skin in this game than any other. France taking a leadership role in the already fraught search for MH370 has further heightened tensions between China, Malaysia, the US and Australia.

First to say yes ... Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was the first to announce that a wing piece that washed up on Reunion Island last week is from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. However, French, U.S. and Australian authorities stopped short of full confirmation. Picture: AP Photo/Vincent Thian

How it will play out is anyone’s guess, but few would agree it would be better if this were happening in Malaysia, which has been accused of mismanaging the situation since it began. Certainly the devastated Chinese families who this week accused the Malaysian government of spending the past 17 months creating fake evidence would have none of it.

Despite the fact the eyes of the world are trained on Reunion, the presence of crucial evidence appears to have been met by officials with an unconcerned Gallic shrug.

The far-west Indian Ocean Island’s local police, Navy and military police were until Friday notably absent from the east coast beaches and their daily circus of “rubbish fevered” citizens looking to peg their place in history by hunting down links with the plane.

Hope ... Many locals, including children, spend spare time on the beach searching for washed-up debris in case it’s from Flight MH370. Picture: Cameron Richardson

Local government spokeswoman Julie Boaziz on Thursday said the lack of action had been because there was a general belief there would be no more debris found here and there were no formal plans to search the 71km east coast.

“We can’t prohibit people from going to the beach to find their own evidence,” she said.

“But the coast is too big for us to search. We will pay attention to any new discovery that is brought to our attention but we don’t have the capacity to search the entire coast of Reunion.”

In contrast, Mauritius each day deployed its coastguard and police planes, as well as issuing a plea to sailors and anglers in its waters to help search.

Begun’s colleague Lall Fokeer, who describes himself as a “proud Mauritian” says should more of MH370s secrets have washed onto his home country’s shores, they will be found.

“Because here we are in a French department, everything is run by France, and they are very strict about how things should be done,” Mr Fokeer said.

Keep on looking ... Local council worker Lall Fokeer, a proud Mauritian, is optimistic that more debris linked to MH370 will be found. Picture: Cameron Richardson

Fokeer, who was in Begue’s crew when they found the flaperon, has lived in Reunion for 16 years and is a dual citizen.

“Right away when we found the wing we thought we knew where it was from, and we thought about the families (of the victims) and how sad it has been for them,” Mr Fokeer said.

“It is a shame that it looks here like the officials don’t care about the families. They look like they are not doing enough and if it was my family I know I would be angry about it.”

Ocean current modelling released by the CSIRO last week showed more flotsam from the plane could land at Reunion and as far west as South Africa.

Debris ... French police carry a piece of debris from a plane found in the coastal area of Saint-Andre de la Reunion, in the east of the French Indian Ocean island of La Reunion. Malaysian authorities have since said it was from MH370. Picture: AFP/ Yannick Pitou

Nicolas Goinard, a Reunion journalist whose beat takes in the surrounding islands, says it will be a challenge to recover any debris that has found its way to Madagascar’s sprawling shores.

“If that’s what’s happened it’s possible we’d never find it. There’s every chance it would be sitting in people’s houses,” he said.

“The people of Madagascar are very poor, some of them have nothing. If you want to think about the places where people have renovated their houses with plane parts, then this is place to look.”

Not everyone in Reunion is finding the attention unwelcome. While his brief fame is sitting uneasily on his shoulders, Johny Begue (who friends now refer to as Johnny Depp) says confirmation his discovery is from MH370 is an answer to his prayers, and he has pledged to build a memorial garden for loved ones of the lost to visit, should they wish to.

Prayers answered ... Local council worker Johny Begue and his wife Marie says they had always felt a “special connection” to the story of MH370. Picture: Cameron Richardson

His wife Marie told News Corp she had always felt a special connection to the story of MH370 after the pair had been moved by news reports when the plane disappeared.

“We would talk about how sad it was, how awful for the families to not know what happened,” Mrs Begue said through an interpreter outside their modest home.

“It was on our minds a lot, and I remember Johny said maybe the sea will bring the answers here and we can help them. We feel it was a plan from God that Johny would find something, and I am happy that he has been able to help.”