- Title: Investigators to pinpoint rocket launch that downed airliner over Ukraine
- Date: 28th September 2016
- Summary: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NEETHERLANDS (SEPTEMBER 28, 2016) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE VENUE WITH SATELLITE TRUCKS VARIOUS OF SECURITY VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS PREPARING MORE SECURITY VARIOUS OF PEOPLE ENTERING THE VENUE EXTERIOR OF THE VENUE WITH JOURNALISTS
- Embargoed: 13th October 2016 09:54
- Keywords: Malaysia Airlines plane missile Dutch passengers
- Location: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NEETHERLANDS/ HRABOVE & NEAR ROZSYPNE, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE
- City: NIEUWEGEIN, THE NEETHERLANDS/ HRABOVE & NEAR ROZSYPNE, DONETSK REGION, UKRAINE
- Country: Netherlands
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Military Conflicts
- Reuters ID: LVA00151HCABR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: An international team of prosecutors investigating the downing of a Malaysian airliner over eastern Ukraine in 2014 will report findings on Wednesday (September 28) but stop short of naming any culprits.
Relatives started to arrive Wednesday morning in Nieuwegein, where the report will be presented.
A surface-to-air missile hit Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 people aboard, most of them Dutch citizens.
At the time, pro-Russian separatists were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the region. The Boeing 777 broke apart in mid-air, 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.
But their remit does not cover assigning blame and prosecutors would have to conduct a further investigation to use the new evidence in any future court case.
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.
A civilian investigation into the cause of the July 17, 2014 incident by the Dutch Safety Board concluded last year that the airliner had been downed by a Russian-made BUK missile launched from eastern Ukraine. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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