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MH17 Ukraine disaster: Dutch Safety Board blames missile | MH17 Ukraine disaster: Dutch Safety Board blames missile |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed as a result of a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board says. | Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed as a result of a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board says. |
The missile hit the front left of the plane causing other parts to break off, it said in a final report into the July 2014 disaster, which killed 298 people. | The missile hit the front left of the plane causing other parts to break off, it said in a final report into the July 2014 disaster, which killed 298 people. |
The West and Ukraine say Russian-backed rebels brought down the Boeing 777, but Russia blames Ukrainian forces. | The West and Ukraine say Russian-backed rebels brought down the Boeing 777, but Russia blames Ukrainian forces. |
The report does not say who fired the missile, but says airspace over eastern Ukraine should have been closed. | The report does not say who fired the missile, but says airspace over eastern Ukraine should have been closed. |
The plane - flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur - crashed at the height of the conflict between government troops and pro-Russian separatists. | |
Most of the victims were Dutch - 196, including some with dual nationality. The other passengers and crew were nationals from 10 countries. | |
How the findings were presented | How the findings were presented |
A separate Dutch-led criminal investigation is under way. | |
The report says the three crew members in the cockpit were killed by the missile explosion instantly. | The report says the three crew members in the cockpit were killed by the missile explosion instantly. |
However, it adds, it was unclear at which point the others died, and the possibility of some remaining conscious for some time during the one-and-a-half minutes it took for the plane to go down could not be ruled out. | |
Matching paint | Matching paint |
Presenting its findings at the Gilze-Rijen military base in the Netherlands, the safety board showed plane parts that had been brought back from the rebel-held Donetsk region and reconstructed. | Presenting its findings at the Gilze-Rijen military base in the Netherlands, the safety board showed plane parts that had been brought back from the rebel-held Donetsk region and reconstructed. |
Board president Djibbe Joustra said the impact pattern could not have been caused by a meteor, an air-to-air missile or an internal explosion. | Board president Djibbe Joustra said the impact pattern could not have been caused by a meteor, an air-to-air missile or an internal explosion. |
Instead, he said, a warhead carried by a surface-to-air missile had detonated above the left-hand side of the cockpit, causing structural damage. | |
Mr Joustra said the missile was a Buk - which experts say both Russian and Ukrainian armies possess. | |
He added that paint had been found on metal fragments within the plane that matched with missile fragments on the ground. | He added that paint had been found on metal fragments within the plane that matched with missile fragments on the ground. |
Mr Joustra also said there had been sufficient reason to close off Ukrainian airspace but Ukraine did not do that - and on the day of the crash, 160 flights flew over the area in question. | |
Read more | Read more |
Key findings - Dutch Safety Board report in a nutshell | Key findings - Dutch Safety Board report in a nutshell |
Malaysia plane crash: What we know - How flight MH17 unfolded | Malaysia plane crash: What we know - How flight MH17 unfolded |
A reporter's story - Searching for truth at the crash site | A reporter's story - Searching for truth at the crash site |
Remembering the victims - Shared sadness and sunflowers | Remembering the victims - Shared sadness and sunflowers |
The board does not have the authority to apportion blame, under the rules governing international crash investigations. | The board does not have the authority to apportion blame, under the rules governing international crash investigations. |
But speaking to reporters after the news conference, Mr Joustra said pro-Russian rebels were in charge of the area from where the missile that hit MH17 had been fired. | |
The government in Ukraine and several Western officials have said the missile was brought from Russia into the rebel-held part of Ukraine. | |
The Dutch-led criminal investigation has already published photos of the launcher being transported around rebel areas. | |
Dutch Prosecutor Fred Westerbeke on Tuesday said a number of "persons of interest" had been identified, but there was still much to be done and the inquiry would not be finished this year. | |
In official reaction on Tuesday: | In official reaction on Tuesday: |
Report 'wrong' | Report 'wrong' |
Earlier, Russian officials from Almaz-Antey - the state firm that manufactures Buk missiles - said the evidence suggested the plane had been shot down by a Buk missile fired by Ukrainian forces. | |
Using their own simulation, the officials said the missile had been fired from Zaroshchenke in Ukrainian-controlled territory, some 20km (12 miles) away from the area highlighted by the Dutch report. | |
They argued the missile used was a decades-old model no longer used by Russian forces. | They argued the missile used was a decades-old model no longer used by Russian forces. |
In July, Russia vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal into the MH17 air disaster. | In July, Russia vetoed a draft resolution at the UN Security Council to set up an international tribunal into the MH17 air disaster. |
President Vladimir Putin said at the time that such a tribunal would be "premature" and "counterproductive". | President Vladimir Putin said at the time that such a tribunal would be "premature" and "counterproductive". |