Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down by Russian BUK missile, Report

Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 crashed because a Russian-made Buk missile exploded just outside the left side of the airplane’s cockpit, the Dutch Safety Board chairman said Tuesday.

Though it declined to comment further on the exact launch site, all the territory within the 320 square kilometre area it identified was in rebel hands at the time of the July 2014 crash.

Russia has contended that if the plane was brought down by a missile, it must have been launched by Ukrainian government forces.

The Dutch Safety Board report said the Buk’s impact was instantly fatal only to the three crew members in the cockpit of the plane.

The rest of the crew and the passengers died due to decompression, reduced oxygen levels, extreme cold, powerful airflow and flying objects, the report said.

But it added: “It cannot be ruled out that some occupants remained conscious during the 60 to 90 seconds before the plane crashed.”

The board said it is likely that people “were barely able to comprehend the situation in which they found themselves…no indications were found that point to any conscious actions,” such as text messages sent on mobile phones.

One passenger was found wearing an oxygen mask, but it was “unclear how the mask got there”, the board said.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has called on Russia to fully cooperate with the criminal investigation into the downing of flight MH17.

Commenting for the first time on the Dutch Safety Board’s final report, Mr Rutte said that a key priority “is now tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators”.

He says that the Dutch Safety Board report “is a new element and undoubtedly an important building block” in the international criminal investigation that is being led by Dutch prosecutors and detectives.

Agencies/Canadajournal