Dutch govt defends handling of Ukraine crash probe

The Dutch government has rejected a call to hand over the investigation into the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster to the United Nations. Previously, a law firm representing 20 family members of victims from four countries has criticised the Dutch investigation as too slow and bureaucratic and urged Prime Minister Mark Rutte to turn the job over to the UN But the government’s top security official replied Tuesday that investigators that are doing their best while facing a “complex geopolitical situation in a conflict zone.”

We are doing what we can, and we do it every day anew.

Dutch Security and Counterterrorism Coordinator Dick Schoof in a statement

Flight 17 was shot down July 17 over territory held by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people aboard - most of them Dutch. International teams seeking to retrieve human remains and salvage evidence have had difficulty reaching the crash site due to clashes between Ukrainian and rebel forces. Six victims have yet to be identified. Hunks of the wreckage arrived Tuesday in the Netherlands by truck. The Dutch Safety Board, which is leading the investigation, said in September that the plane was brought down by “high-energy objects from outside the aircraft.”

It will take several months before we have a reconstruction of parts of the aircraft.

Safety Board chief Tjibbe Joustra

World MH17