M'sian investigators submit reports on MH17 crash to Dutch

The Malaysian team investigating the crash of the Malaysia Airlines (MAS) Flight MH17 aircraft at a site in Torez, eastern Ukraine has submmited its reports to the Dutch authorities heading the investigation.

MAS director of engineering and maintenance Azhari Mohd Dahlan, 53, who is one of three Malaysians conducting investigations into the crash in the Donetsk region, told Bernama: "We are relieved. All the investigation reports have been given to the Dutch as they head the investigation."

He said this upon arrival in Kiev, about 800km from Torez by train, Friday morning.

He, however, did not want to comment further on the four-day investigation carried out by him and the other two Malaysian investigators comprising Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) Senior Assistant Director Captain Philip Joseph Selvaraju, 42, who is a former pilot, and DCA Senior Assistant Director Mohd Naemy Fahmy Mustapa, 38.

The Boeing 777-200 aircraft carrying 298 people – 283 passengers and 15 crew – was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it went down in Donetsk near the Russian border on July 17.

Foreign media reported that the aircraft was shot down but until today, no one has claimed responsibility for the incident.

Azhari and the 133 Malaysian special team members, led by Khairil Hilmi Mokhtar, who is also National Security Council (MKN) Cross Border Management Division principal assistant secretary, were scheduled to depart for Kuala Lumpur Friday noon (local time).

Meanwhile according to MKN, a total of 60 bodies of those on board Flight MH17 will be flown to the Netherlands.

Until yesterday, a total of 114 bodies had been flown to the Netherlands, it said.

There were four refrigerated train coaches which carried 282 bodies of Flight MH17 victims from Donetsk to Kharkiv for tagging before being flown to Eindhoven, the Netherlands.