Updated

Relatives of some of the 239 people who were on a Malaysia Airlines plane that vanished in 2014 have arrived in Madagascar to ask for help in the search for debris from the missing aircraft that may have drifted across the Indian Ocean.

Half a dozen relatives traveled to Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital, on Saturday ahead of meetings with community leaders and a journey to coastal areas to raise awareness among villagers about the crash.

Some pieces of debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 have been found on African coastlines.

Malaysia, Australia and China are close to suspending a search of a vast area of seabed in the southern Indian Ocean.

The Boeing 777 jet is believed to have crashed after deviating from its flight path from Malaysia to Beijing.