MH17 crash site still too unsafe for investigators, says Dutch defence minister

The site in eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines flight 17 crashed two months ago is still too unsafe for investigators to resume the recovery of victims’ remains, Dutch Defence Minister Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert said on Thursday.

A ceasefire between Russian-backed separatists and Ukrainian government forces “is being violated and its existence remains fragile,” she said in a statement issued in The Hague.

“At this moment the situation is not stable enough to resume the investigation,” the minister said after meeting her Malaysian counterpart Hishammuddin Hussein.

Malaysia Airlines flight 17 crashed on July 17 between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur when it was struck by what investigators determined were numerous “high-energy objects” over territory held by pro-Moscow separatists, killing all 298 on board.

The findings released in an initial report by a Dutch-led team of air crash investigators on Tuesday appear to back up claims that the Boeing 777 was hit by an anti-aircraft missile.

Kiev and the West have accused separatists of shooting it down with a surface-to-air BUK missile supplied by Moscow.

Moscow and the rebels deny this and point the finger at Kiev.