- Title: Investigation found MH17 downed from pro-Russia rebel held territory - families
- Date: 28th September 2016
- Summary: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NETHERLANDS (SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF RELATIVES ARRIVING AT THE NBC CONGRESS CENTRE CROWD OF JOURNALISTS SILENE FREDRIKSZ AND ROB FREDRIKSZ, WHOSE SON AND HIS GIRLFRIEND DIED IN THE MH17 CRASH, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) WOMAN WHOSE SON AND HIS GIRLFRIEND DIED IN THE MH17 CRASH, SILENE FREDRIKSZ, SAYING: "Well, we have seen a lot of information in the media the last 26 months and that's what we thought might be the truth has been confirmed." LAWYER REPRESENTING FAMILIES OF FOUR DEAD GERMAN PASSENGERS, ELMAR GIEMULLA, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) LAWYER REPRESENTING GERMAN FAMILIES OF MH17 CRASH VICTIMS, ELMAR GIEMULLA, SAYING: "The question which was asked by the families, 'who are then the perpetrators, do we have any idea about this?' was denied, although the answer is absolutely possible. If a missile is sent from Russia to the Ukraine for just one day, then there must have been a decision and the decision is definitely... cannot be taken by just a soldier." FATHER OF 17-YEAR-OLD GIRL WHO DIED IN THE MH17 CRASH, HANS DE BORST, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) FATHER OF MH17 CRASH VICTIM, HANS DE BORST, SAYING: "Until now there were a lot of speculations, but I see this as something really a big relief for me." INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR, ELIOT HIGGINS, SPEAKING TO JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) INDEPENDENT INVESTIGATOR, ELIOT HIGGINS, SPEAKING ABOUT RUSSIAN NEWS CONFERENCE: "The most interesting thing about that press conference is it completely contradicted their previous press conference in July 21st, for one thing on July 21st they claimed there was a major course change on MH17 and that never happened at all according to their new information. They're also claiming there's no jet near MH17 which there was before according to their own evidence, so really the proof there is that Russia lied in their first press conference, or they're lying now." RELATIVES WALKING OUT OF THE NBC CONGRESS CENTRE THE NBC CONGRESS CENTRE, WHERE NEWS CONFERENCE IS TAKING PLACE
- Embargoed: 13th October 2016 13:00
- Keywords: MH17 plane Russia Ukraine investigation Malaysia Airlines missile Buk
- Location: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NETHERLANDS
- City: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NETHERLANDS
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Air Accidents,Disaster/Accidents
- Reuters ID: LVA00151HD5XJ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: International prosecutors investigating the downing of a Malaysian airliner two years ago have concluded it was shot down by a Russian-made missile fired from rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, victims' family members said on Wednesday (September 28).
Families were informed of the prosecutors' findings shortly before a news conference was due to start in the central Dutch city of Nieuwegein on the outcome of the investigation.
"Until now there were a lot of speculations, but I see this as something really a big relief for me," Heans de Borst, the father of a victim, said.
A surface-to-air missile hit Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on its way from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens.
Robby Oehlers, the cousin of 20-year-old victim Daisy Oehlers, said investigators had also identified 100 potential suspects in the plane's downing.
Families were also told that the Buk missile system that was used to shoot down the plane had been transported from Russia into Ukraine, and was returned to Russia immediately afterward.
The Kremlin said before the family members spoke that radar data showed the plane was not brought down by a rocket fired from territory held by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.
At the time of the incident, pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the region. The Boeing 777 broke apart in midair, flinging wreckage over several kilometres (miles) of fields in rebel-held territory.
The prosecutors from the Netherlands, Australia, Belgium, Malaysia and Ukraine have said they will release details of the firing location and type of BUK missile used in the attack, taking them a step closer to identifying individual culprits.
Silene Fredriksz, whose 23-year-old son Bryce was on the airplane with his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, expects the investigators to say the missile was fired from the rebel-held town of Snizhne.
If the investigation confirms that theory, which is supported by photographic evidence and witness statements collected by Reuters, it will directly be challenging Moscow's suggestion that the plane was brought down by the Ukrainian military.
Ukrainian and Western officials, citing intelligence intercepts, have blamed pro-Russian rebels for the incident. Russia has always denied direct involvement in the Ukraine conflict and rejects responsibility for the destruction of MH17. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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