Malaysian plane shot by missile, says report
The wrecked cockpit of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 is presented to the press during a presentation of the final report on the cause of its crash at the Gilze Rijen airbase October 13, 2015. Air crash investigators concluded that the MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile. PHOTO | AFP
What you need to know:
- The much-anticipated report also said it was possible that some on board the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur may have been conscious during the 90 seconds it took to crash on July 17 last year.
- The inquiry has marked out a 320 square kilometre area in eastern Ukraine from which the missile must have been fired to cause the amount of damage.
GILZE-RIJEN
Air crash investigators concluded Tuesday that Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile fired from war-torn eastern Ukraine last year killing all 298 people on board.
Even though the Dutch-led inquiry did not say who pulled the trigger, Russian officials were already disputing the findings set to further degrade strained ties between Moscow and the West.
“Flight MH17 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead outside the airplane against the left-hand side of the cockpit,” the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, Tjibbe Joustra, told a press conference.
“This warhead fits the kind of missile that is installed in the BUK surface-to-air missile system.”
The much-anticipated report also said it was possible that some on board the Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur may have been conscious during the 90 seconds it took to crash on July 17.
TRIGGER HAPPY
Malaysia vowed it would seek the prosecution of the “trigger happy criminals” who downed the flight, the second aviation tragedy for the country after the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 in March 2014.
“The wreckage was spread over several sites” near the villages of Grabove, Rozsypne and Ptropavlivka, most of which were in rebel territory, the Dutch report said.
The inquiry has marked out a 320 square kilometre area in eastern Ukraine from which the missile must have been fired to cause the amount of damage.
But it did not specify whether it came from an area under the control of pro-Russian separatists battling Ukrainian forces.
Standing in front of an eerie reconstruction of the plane’s cockpit made from the wreckage, Joustra said the inquiry had not pinned down the exact location of the missile launch site, saying that would take further investigation.
But earlier the respected Volkskrant daily said sources close to the investigation had pointed to it being fired by pro-Russian rebels.
“It can be assumed that the rebels would not be able to operate such a missile. I suspect the involvement of former Russian military officials.”
Joustra also hit out at the Ukrainian authorities for allowing civil aircraft to continue to fly above the eastern part of the country.
