Note: Malaysia stated that they have send a team to Ukraine yesterday.
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PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said further investigations were necessary to confirm the findings of preliminary report into the MH17 tragedy.
He said: “The report confirms that MH17 was flying in unrestricted airspace under the control of local air traffic controllers, and following a route and altitude cleared by air traffic control.
"The aircraft was fully airworthy with no reported faults, and the crew acted properly," he said in a statement today.
The preliminary report, he said, even suggested that high energy objects penetrated the aircraft and led it to break up midair.
"This leads to the strong suspicion that a surface to air missile brought MH17 down, but further investigative work is needed before we can be certain," he said.
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THE HAGUE (AFP) - Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed over rebel-held eastern Ukraine split into pieces during flight after being hit by numerous high-energy objects, said a report released by the Netherlands on Tuesday.
“Flight MH17... operated by Malaysia Airlines 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,” said the preliminary report into the disaster that claimed 298 lives, most of them Dutch citizens.
The report, which comes almost two months after MH17 was went down, also said the Boeing 777-200 was airworthy when it took off from Amsterdam and was staffed by a “qualified and experienced crew”. “There were no technical problems,” the 34-page report stated.
The report said the fact that the plane was hit by high-energy objects “explains the abrupt end to data registration on the recorders, the simultaneous loss of contact with air traffic control and the aircraft’s disappearance from radar”.
The findings appear to back up claims that the Boeing 777 was hit by shrapnel from a missile.
“There are no indications that the MH17 crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew,” the report added.
The Boeing was blown out of the sky over eastern Ukraine as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, killing all on board including 193 Dutch citizens.
Kiev and the West accused pro-Russian separatists of shooting down the plane with a surface-to-air missile supplied by Moscow.
Russia, which denies mounting Western claims of direct involvement in the five-month conflict in Ukraine, has blamed government forces for the attack.
The Netherlands on Tuesday released the highly anticipated interim report into the downing of the plane, with hopes that it will shed light on the disaster.
The air crash team led by Dutch investigators announced its findings, but the report will not apportion any blame.
"We investigate the cause of the accident and not who's responsible," Ms Sara Vernooij, spokeman for the Dutch Safety Board OVV, told AFP.
The MH17 disaster was the second tragedy for Malaysia Airlines after the mysterious disappearance of flight MH370 in March, and threw the global spotlight back on the bloody uprising in eastern Ukraine.
The report is being issued just days after a ceasefire backed by Kiev and Moscow came into force on Friday to try to end a war that has killed over 2,700 people and sent at least half a million fleeing their homes.
Dutch investigators have been unable to visit the site in the Donetsk region because of the fighting, and have relied on information from Ukrainian crash specialists for information from the scene.
Investigators are expected to make findings based on information from the aircraft's black boxes, and pictures and video taken at the scene, as well as information supplied by Ukranian air traffic control.
The black boxes have been shipped to Farnborough in Britain to be examined by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch.
The OVV said the preliminary findings will be "factual information based on sources available to the OVV", with a full report not expected until until mid-2015.
Shortly after the crash, forensic experts travelled to the site to collect body parts, but the search has also been suspended due to heavy fighting in the area.
So far 193 victims of flight MH17 have been identified.
Air crash investigators hope they may be able to return to the crash site if a ceasefire agreed on Friday between the Ukraine government and the separatist rebels holds.
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Below is the press statement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the Dutch’s preliminary report of the fateful downing of flight MH17 which claimed 298 lives.
“I welcome the preliminary report into the MH17 tragedy, which was a collaborative effort.
“The report confirms that MH17 was flying in unrestricted airspace under the control of local air traffic controllers, and following a route and altitude cleared by air traffic control.
“The aircraft was fully airworthy with no reported faults, and the crew acted properly.
“The preliminary report suggests that high energy objects penetrated the aircraft and led it to break up midair.
“This leads to the strong suspicion that a surface to air missile brought MH17 down, but further investigative work is needed before we can be certain.
“I urge all parties to work closely together to facilitate this investigation and the production of the final report.
“In the meantime, it is of the utmost importance that the investigation teams gain full and unfettered access to the crash site, in order to recover all human remains, complete their investigation and establish the truth.
“That is why a Malaysian team was sent to Ukraine yesterday.
“We owe it to the families, who are in our thoughts today.”
