DHAKA: Malaysia’s Cabinet has approved the appointment of an international investigation team to look into the cause of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

‘The main purpose of the international investigation team is to evaluate, investigate and determine the actual cause of the accident so similar accidents could be avoided in the future,’ Malaysia acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news briefing on Wednesday, reports The Straits Times.

Members of the panel, to be announced next week, will be ‘independent, accredited and competent’, and they will decide when to release reports relating to MH370, said Hishammuddin.

He added that Malaysia will try to include Singapore in the team because of its experience in handling the crash of Silk Air MI185.

The panel, to be coordinated by the deputy transport minister, will not look into any criminal aspects as those will be handled by the police.

Hishammuddin told reporters the search operation for the missing jet will continue until the entire targeted search area in the Southern Indian Ocean is covered. Malaysia is also in talks with its partners to increase assets for deep sea search, he said.

Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Head of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA), said they have received a report from Australian authorities about objects that had washed ashore south of Perth, but there has been no confirmation that the objects are related to the missing plane.

The plane disappeared on March 8 with 239 passengers and crew on board while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. Radar and satellite signals have shown the jet veered far off course for unknown reasons.

BDST: 1836 HRS, APR 23, 2014