Dutch Safety Board MH17 Probe Team to Hold Public Hearings on November 3

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) will hold public hearings to allow media outlets ask questions into the board’s MH17 crash findings on November 3, a Dutch lawmaker told Sputnik on Saturday.

The DSB’s final report into the July 2014 flight MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, released in mid-October, said a surface-to-air missile exploded near the passenger aircraft’s left side.

"In parliament there was a confidential briefing by the DSB. After this briefing, the committee took the initiative to invite the safety board for a public hearing. This will take place on Tuesday November 3," the lawmaker, who wished to remain anonymous, said.

The lawmaker, who provided an official convocation to the 2.5-hour briefing, said three DSB board members will be available to answer questions from the press.

All 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines flight en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, most of them Dutch passengers, were killed over the Donetsk countryside. The incident sparked disputes over whether the plane was shot down by Ukrainian government forces or the eastern Ukrainian pro-independence militias.

The DSB said an additional forensic investigation is needed to establish the exact launch location of the missile.

Almaz-Antey, the Russian arms manufacturer that builds Buk missile systems, conducted a separate probe into the crash. It found that the missile that hit the plane could only have been launched by a Buk system located in the region of Zaroshchenske, controlled by Kiev forces at the time of the incident.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said after the DSB report it was planning to propose the board to resume its investigation with Russian participation.