KUALA LUMPUR - The debris found on Malaysia's east coast is not from the missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 as it did not match a Boeing 777 jet, the authorities said on Friday (Jan 29).

Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said he reached the conclusion after a team comprising the transport ministry, the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) and Malaysia Airlines had examined the metal object that washed up on Wednesday on the Terengganu coast.

"The assessment found that the debris does not match those of a Boeing 777, thus confirming that the debris is not from MH370," Mr Liow said in a statement.

Local media reported that the object, which was white and measured two metres long, was spotted floating in the waters near the town of Besut in the eastern state of Terengganu.

The object was found along the same coastline facing the South China Sea as the Nakhon Si Thammarat province in Thailand, where suspected plane debris was found on Saturday. Officials have said that debris did not belong to MH370.

Flight MH370 disappeared with 239 people on board on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing in March 2014.