MOSCOW, November 13 (Sputnik) – The investigation into the crash of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine is to be extended until August 2015, Australian Justice Minister Michael Keenan said Thursday.
"Member countries of the joint investigation team (JIT) into the downing of MH17 in July have agreed to extend the investigation for another nine months," a statement published on the Australian Justice Minister's website says.
The JIT includes the Netherlands, Ukraine, Australia, Belgium and Malaysia, as well as other international partners, Keenan said in the statement.
The minister said that during a meeting with the Ukrainian authorities, Australia reiterated its commitment to continue work on the investigation site, engaging 35 Australian Federal Police (AFP) personnel.
The justice minister stressed that the expert team was ready to return to the crash site as soon as JIT members considered the area safe enough, calling on the international community to remain focused on the investigation.
Last week a group of Dutch experts arrived in Donetsk to start collecting wreckage in the crash area.
The Malaysia Airlines plane flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed on July 17 in Ukraine's eastern region of Donetsk, claiming 298 lives.
Though Kiev accuses local independence supporters of downing the plane, it did not support the accusations with any evidence. Independence supporters in the area claim that they do not have weapons capable of bringing down the plane, which was flying at 32,000 feet.
