Officials said they believed it was 'most likely' that the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile

Dutch investigators seeking clues to the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine say that they have recovered metal shards from bodies and luggage that could identify the missile that downed the aircraft.

Investigators said yesterday that 25 pieces of shrapnel were being studied. Officials said they believed it was “most likely” that the jet was shot down by a surface-to-air missile.

“If we can establish this iron comes from such a missile, that is important,” said Fred Westerbeke, the Dutch prosecution service chief. “At this moment, we don’t know that, but that’s what we are investigating.”

Flight MH17 fell over eastern Ukraine on July 17 with the loss of 298 passengers and crew. The US government said it gathered intelligence in the days