Updated 2:40 p.m. Moscow time
MOSCOW, September 10 (RIA Novosti) – Unidentified fragments have been found in the bodies of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 pilots, their origin is currently being established, a Dutch Safety Board (DSB) spokeswoman told RIA Novosti Wednesday.
“Some fragments are found in the bodies of flight crew, pilots. We have to investigate them to see if they are fragments of the plane. If they are not, it might be fragments of the objects, coming from outside. We’re not sure yet what these pieces are fragments of. Experts are working with bodies,” DSB spokeswoman Sara Vernooij said.
On Tuesday, the DSB released a preliminary report on the MH17 crash. According to the report, the flight broke up in the air probably as the result of structural damage caused by “a large number of high-energy objects” that penetrated the aircraft from outside.
The analysts said that groundbreaking results should not have been expected as the investigation into the crash was hampered by the Kiev’s military operation in the region. Investigators also did not have rapid access to the crash site.
The DSB aims to publish the final report within a year of the date of the crash.
Flight MH17, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed on July 17 in Ukraine’s eastern region of Donetsk, killing all 298 people on board. Kiev accuses independence supporters in eastern Ukraine of shooting it down but cannot provide any evidence. The local militia leaders insist that they do not have weapons capable of shooting down a plane flying at 32,000 feet.
