First moments after MH17 crash caught on camera

The clip uploaded Sunday on YouTube by Russian news agency Russia Today, described the footage as being filmed immediately after the crash. Shocked residents were also heard screaming and shouting, while others run towards the crash site with buckets of water in an attempt to douse the raging flames.

A similar video claiming to show the explosion from the plane’s impact surfaced in July.

The 54 second clip shows a ball of fire emerging from the distance, followed by a large plume of black smoke as residents express their shock, commenting in Russian. Meanwhile workers have begun winching debris from the ill-fated aircraft on to trucks, paving the way for Flight MH17’s eventual return to the Netherlands four months after it crashed, killed all 298 people on board.

Dutch experts at the scene supervised a crew from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, as they used metal saws to cut up the wreckage before being lifted on to trucks at the remote crash site new the village of Grabove.

The team faces a race against time to complete the recovery effort before harsh winter conditions in the former Soviet state make it difficult to continue. Ukraine and the West accuse Russia of supplying pro-Moscow rebels with the missile that shot down the aircraft. Russia and the separatists deny it, blaming Ukrainian forces instead.

A preliminary report by Dutch investigators published in September found the plane was hit by a large number of "high-energy objects", but did not apportion blame.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who also denies providing military support to the separatists, came under fresh pressure over Ukraine and MH17 at the G20 summit in Brisbane.