17:01 22.05.2015

Zubko: 297 bodies found at Boeing crash site in Ukraine

2 min read
Zubko: 297 bodies found at Boeing crash site in Ukraine

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Hennadiy Zubko said the search operation for the bodies of the MH-17 Malaysia Airlines crash victims that occurred in July 2014 is now over.

"Members of the commission have reported on the completion of one of the stages of the mission, the search operation and the repatriation of the bodies, of which 295 have been identified. These bodies have been taken to the Netherlands," Zubko said at a meeting of the international commission on the investigation into the crash.

Zubko said "all victims are regarded as found, but it is not possible to fully identify everyone."

"The results of the DNA tests will be ready on July 1 and the remains will be fully provided to the Netherlands on August 1, 2015," he said.

Zubko added that the search stage ends at that, but the aviation and criminal investigation continues.

Zubko said 2,600 tests involving 900 officers have been performed in the course of the investigation. He thanked the OSCE officials for their support in this investigation.

Zubko also said 24 trucks carrying plane debris have already been delivered to the Netherlands for forensic tests.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014. All people on board the plane were killed. The most probable theory behind the disaster holds it that the airliner had been shot down by a surface-to-air missile fired from the conflict zone in Donbas.

AD
AD
AD
AD