Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 Debris Collection Starts Four Months After Crash
Nearly four-months after the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, workers in Eastern Ukraine began collecting debris from the crash site on Sunday. The operation is headed by Dutch investigators and European officials from the Organization for Security and Cooperation.
Most of the 298 passengers on board the ill-fated flight — which was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur — were from the Netherlands. Malaysia Flight 17 was shot down on July 17 over a disputed area of the Ukraine and theories as to who brought down the passenger plane are conflicted.
According to Alexander Kostrubitsky, head of the emergency services in the separatist-held areas of Donetsk region, collecting the debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 at the crash site could take about 10-days. The mangled parts of the aircraft are scattered over an area of eight-square-miles.
Kostrubitsky said the debris is being cut into small pieces to facilitate transportation. The first pile of debris from Malaysia Airlines 17 was taken to a warehouse shortly after lunchtime on Sunday.
— Celebs News (@CEIEBSNEWSUSA) July 21, 2014
The West believes a missile fired by Russian backed separatist fighting the Ukrainian government, brought down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17. In the most recent attempt to lay the blame at the feet at the Ukraine, Russia released a photo which reportedly shows the plane being downed by a Ukrainian fighter jet, which many in the West have dismissed as a fake.
Several bloggers said the photograph of the downing of Malaysia Airliens Flight 17 was a forgery, citing a cloud pattern to prove the photo dates back to 2012, and several other details that don’t reconcile with Russia’s claims, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times.
The photo showing the downing of Malaysia Flight 17 was seen as propaganda, after Russian President Vladimir Putin was harshly criticized for his handling of the crash, while attending a Group of 20 summit in Brisbane, Australia. Putin left the meeting before any other leader, citing his desire to rest before returning to work.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 21, 2014
One of Putin’s harshest critics was the host, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who was also dealing with the investigation into the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 earlier this year.
“I utterly deplore what seems to be happening in eastern Ukraine. I demand that Russia fully cooperate with the investigation, the criminal investigation of the downing of MH17, one of the most terrible atrocities of recent times.”
In October, Dutch investigators said that of the 298 passengers on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, 289 remains have been identified. Authorities said that the process of identifying remains was obstructed by the lack of DNA profiles and the fact that not all bodies had been recovered.
[Image via Markus Mainka / Shutterstock.com]
