MOSCOW, July 19 (RIA Novosti) – Nationalities of all passengers of MH 17 plane that crashed in Ukraine Thursday has been established, Malaysia Airlines reported on its website.
According to recent reports, there were 192 passengers from the Netherlands on board (including 1 dual Netherlands/US citizen), 44 from Malaysia (including 15 crew and two infants), 27 from Australia, 12 from Indonesia (including one infant), 10 from the United Kingdom (including 1 dual UK/South Africa citizen), four from Belgium, four from Germany, three from the Philippines, one from Canada, and one from New Zealand. The complete death toll is 298 people.
The Malaysia Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on Thursday near the town of Torez in Ukraine’s Donetsk Region.
Rescuers have revealed two black boxes from the plane. Ukraine and Malaysia Airlines are already investigating the accident at the site, with the help of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which ensures international presence.
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), Interpol, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are also planning to join the investigation.
Kiev blamed independence supporters in the turbulent Donetsk Region for downing the passenger plane with a surface-to-air missile.
The leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic said local militia did not have the required technology to shoot a target flying as high as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) in the air. The missile systems that were found in the Ukrainian military unit, which was captured by self-defense forces, were a «scrap pile» unfit to be used and beyond repair, according to independence supporters.
