An international team of criminal investigators is inspecting missile parts recovered from the eastern Ukraine site of last year’s crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in hopes of determining who is responsible for downing the plane, killing all 298 people on board.
Seven pieces of debris brought to a military laboratory in the Netherlands are believed to have come from a missile, which a separate Dutch-led safety investigation has already indicated was a probable cause of the disaster. An initial examination suggests the parts came from a Russian-made Buk ground-to-air rocket, some members of Dutch Safety Board investigation told the media.
A statement issued Tuesday by the Joint Investigation Team of international prosecutors probing the July 17, 2014, disaster said it was too early to draw conclusions as to who was responsible for shooting down the Boeing 777. The aircraft was en route from Amsterdam to the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur when it exploded and fell to the ground in eastern Ukraine territory controlled by pro-Russia separatist forces.
“The parts are of particular interest to the criminal investigation as they can possibly provide more information about who was involved in the crash of MH17,” the prosecution panel said of the missile debris. “For that reason, the JIT further investigates the origin of these parts.”
