MH17: Malaysia Airlines flight shot down by BUK missile fired from eastern Ukraine, Dutch Safety Board says

Updated

Dutch authorities have officially confirmed crashed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK missile fired from eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Key points BUK missile detonated outside MH17's cockpit

Passengers not killed on impact were unconscious "within moments"

Report says planes should not have been allowed to fly over region

Russia accuses investigators of bias, "carrying out political orders"

Delivering its final report on the tragedy, the Dutch Safety Board said the Boeing 777 crashed as a result of the detonation of a warhead to the left of the plane's cockpit.

"A 9N314M warhead detonated outside the aeroplane to the left side of the cockpit. This fits the kind of warhead installed in the BUK surface-to-air missile system," Safety Board head Tjibbe Joustra said.

Thousands of "pre-formed" metal objects were then "injected with tremendous force", he said, with parts of the missile found in bodies of three crew in the cockpit, all of whom were killed instantly.

The safety board said passengers on the flight not killed by the missile were unconscious within moments.

Authorities said 61 airlines were flying over eastern Ukraine when the Malaysia Airlines flight crashed, but said airlines flying over the area should have recognised the dangers.

The board said Ukraine should have closed the airspace over the country's east.

International regulations should also be changed to increase transparency about flight routes as a result of the crash, it said.

MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur in July 2014 when it crashed over eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed rebels were fighting Ukrainian forces.

There were 193 Dutch citizens and 38 Australians onboard.

The Federal Government welcomed the report handed down by Dutch authorities and said it remained "absolutely committed" to seeing justice done over the MH17 disaster.

In a statement, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said his thoughts and prayers were with the families and loved ones of the victims.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the Government remained committed to seeing justice done in the wake of Russia's veto of a United Nations Security Council-mandated international tribunal.

Before officially unveiling the report at the Gilze-Rijen air base, families and media were able to view a partial reconstruction of the doomed plane, made from pieces of wreckage brought back from the crash site.

The long awaited findings of the board, which was not empowered to address questions of responsibility, did not specify who launched the missile.

Moscow has vehemently denied any involvement in the crash, pointing the finger instead at Ukrainian government forces who were battling a fierce rebellion by pro-Russian separatists in the east.

A separate criminal inquiry into the flight's downing led by the Netherlands is still underway, with participation from Malaysia, Australia, Ukraine and Belgium.

Though the criminal report is not due until next year, a statement released by the international team said their findings "point in the same direction" and that they had identified "persons of interest".

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte urged Russia to cooperate fully with the investigation.

Russia's deputy foreign minister Sergei Ryabkov disputed the Dutch Safety Board's findings as "biased" in order to "carry out political orders".

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Time lapse video shows MH17 reconstruction from debris (ABC News)

Downing of MH17 'could be prosecuted as war crime'

Dr James Summers, director of the Centre for International Law and Human Rights at Lancaster University, said the downing of flight MH17 could be prosecuted as a war crime.

"The important detail when looking at this BUK missile system and its crew, is did they make an effort to ensure that when they were firing the missile, they weren't firing it at a civilian plane," he told the ABC's The World program.

"If they have taken checks to ensure that they were not firing at a civilian plane, this might be seen as a tragedy that occurred in war time.

"On the other hand, they made no effort, or were insufficient in their efforts, to distinguish between a civilian aircraft and a military one, then that would be a war crime under international law."

Mr Summers said although Dutch investigators said more evidence needed to be collected, the report cleared up how the Boeing 777 was shot down.

"What they have established is the type of missile which was fired, which was the 9M314M BUK missile," he said.

"This contradicts claims made by the BUK manufacturers and Russia that an older version of the BUK missile system was used.

"What has not been clarified ... is the precise location of where that missile was fired from."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: James Summers says the downing of MH17 could be prosecuted as a war crime (The World)

Mr Summers said further investigation would be needed in terms of allocating responsibility for the tragedy.

"I think we would need to seek clarification on what that area was — was that in solidly rebel-held territory or would it be within Ukrainian government-held territory?" he said.

"Those are the questions which need to come out of that report, they didn't specifically point the finger."

Following the official Dutch report, Malaysia vowed to seek the prosecution of the "trigger-happy criminals" who downed flight MH17.

Transport minister Liow Tiong Lai said in a statement that as a party to the investigation, "Malaysia remains single-minded in our pursuit of decisive action that will lead to prosecution of the trigger-happy criminals".

Prime minister Najib Razak also released a statement vowing his government would continue to press for justice "until those behind this heinous act are made to pay for their crimes".

Doubt still remains, victim's family says

For Jordan Withers, the report left too much doubt — particularly as to his uncle Glenn Thomas's final moments.

"It says they may have been conscious when the flight was coming down over a minute or a minute-and-a-half," Mr Withers said.

"And that leaves that doubt. Was my uncle conscious or was he not? And all the other innocent passengers.

"So that doubt that I wanted clearing up in all this — was he in any pain and would he have been conscious in this — still remains and that's quite upsetting."

Dutch woman Silene Fredriksz, who lost her son Bryce, agreed about the need for changes to flight rules for airlines.

"Malaysia Airlines should not have flown over Ukraine," she said.

"No-one should have.

"They closed it after MH17 but it was too late.

"And everybody knew, everybody knew how dangerous it was."

Reuters/AFP

Topics: disasters-and-accidents, netherlands, ukraine, russian-federation

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