Search of Ukraine MH17 crash site over: Dutch team

May 01, 2015 | 16:30

(0) user say

"We have done everything humanly possible," in the recovery process, mission head Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said at a press conference in The Hague.

Dutch and Malaysian investigators and local authorities work on Apr 23, 2015 on the site where the bulk of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 was shot out of the sky near the village of Grabove in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DNR). (Photo: AFP/Odd Andersen)

THE HAGUE: Dutch and international investigators have finished recovering human remains and wreckage from the MH17 plane crash site in eastern Ukraine, the mission's head said on Thursday (Apr 30).

All 298 passengers and crew on board the Malaysia Airlines jetliner - the majority of them Dutch - died when it was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine last year.

"We have done everything humanly possible," in the recovery process, mission head Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg said at a press conference in The Hague.

A final flight with seven coffins filled with human remains is expected to arrive in the Netherlands on Saturday.

"Many more" body parts were recovered in the last two weeks in the search near Petropavlivka, about 10 kilometres (six miles) west of Grabove where most of the debris fell, Aalbersberg said.

It also included "many personal belongings like watches, passports ... and other documents that is of great value to the victims' families."

Aalbersberg did not exclude finding further remains or wreckage "in the coming years."

The Boeing 777 was on a routine flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down on Jul 17, 2014.

Kiev and the West claim that the plane was shot down by pro-Russian separatists using a BUK surface-to-air missile supplied by Moscow. Russia has denied the charges, pointing the finger instead at Kiev.

The Netherlands has been tasked with leading the investigation into the cause of the accident and identifying the victims.

Dutch Safety Board (OVV) spokeswoman Sara Vernooij told AFP on Thursday the final report into the cause of the crash is expected to be ready around October.

AFP

What the stars mean:

★ Poor ★ ★ Promising ★★★ Good ★★★★ Very good ★★★★★ Exceptional