Several pieces of "metallic debris" have been found on La Reunion island, where a Boeing 777 wing part believed to belong to missing flight MH370 washed up last week, a source close to the investigation said Sunday.

Investigators on the Indian Ocean island took the debris into evidence as part of their probe into the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, although nothing indicated that it came from an airplane, the source said.

An AFP photographer saw police collect one piece of debris, measuring about 100 square centimetres (15 square inches), on the north of the island on Sunday morning.

Police placed the debris -- which has a sort of handle partially covered by leather and is inscribed with two ideograms -- in an iron case.

Also on Sunday morning a man handed police a piece of debris measuring 70 centimetres (27 inches), guessing it was part of a plane door.

The discovery of a piece of wreckage confirmed to come from a Boeing 777 last Wednesday sparked fevered speculation that it may be the first tangible evidence that the missing plane crashed into the Indian Ocean.

Flight MH370 is the only Boeing 777 to ever be lost at sea.

While that piece of wreckage has been sent to France for further analysis, locals on La Reunion are scouring the beach for more debris in what the source close to the investigation likened to a "treasure hunt".