MH17 case largest Dutch investigation ever

The criminal investigation into the crash of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 is the largest of its kind in Dutch history, the Prosecutor’s Office OM has said.

A sea of flowers and teddy bears at the entrance of the Corporal Van Oudheusdenkazerne in Hilversum. Remains of victims have been flown by military aircraft to Eindhoven, from where they were to the military base where a forensic team set off on the grim task of identification.

The OM said Dutch authorities have taken the lead in the international cooperation between the countries that have been affected by the July 17 tragedy. No less than 10 Dutch prosecutors and 200 police officers have been assigned to the case, all with varying specializations.

Since the crash the investigators have collected radar data, satellite images, data from the Air Traffic Control and the black boxes. They hope the information they collected will help shed on the tragedy.

The objective of the criminal investigation is to unearth the facts and finding out who is responsible for shooting down the Boeing 77 over Donetsk in Eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board the flight that was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. Most remains

The OM stressed that the investigation continues, even while the fighting has resumed in eastern Ukraine and investigators had to abort their work there for safety reasons. The office said the preliminary results from the investigation should be available within a month.