New sickening video footage has emerged apparently showing Russian-backed rebels arriving at the scene of the MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, believing they’d shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet.
All 298 passengers and crew – the majority Dutch – died on July 17 last year when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, on a flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur, was shot down over rebel-held east Ukraine during heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists.
The footage – which was reportedly filmed by the rebels themselves and released by News Corp Australia – allegedly shows the insurgents dismay as they discover the aircraft is a commercial jet.
It shows the rebels rifling through the luggage of passengers and crew and their discussion is disturbing.
There is confusion and then realisation that their missile has brought down the passenger plane and not a Sukhoi fighter. “You see, they are foreigners, Malaysians,” the rebels say.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told media she was sickened by footage but couldn’t verify the authenticity of the video.
A final report by the Dutch Safety Board is due to be released in early October.
According to AFP Britain has joined the chorus of countries calling for a UN-backed tribunal to prosecute those responsible for downing flight MH17 on the first anniversary of the disaster.
Kiev and the West point the finger at the separatists, saying they may have used a BUK surface-to-air missile supplied by Russia to down the plane. But Moscow denies involvement and instead accuses Ukraine’s military.
“Justice must be delivered for the 298 innocent people who lost their lives,” British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said in a statement. “That requires an international tribunal, backed by a resolution binding all UN member states, to prosecute those responsible.”
The Netherlands is leading the retrieval of victims’ remains and investigating the cause of the crash, as well as finding and punishing possible perpetrators. Apart from two passengers, both Dutch, the remains of all other victims have been found and positively identified.
The Dutch Safety Board is expected to release a final report into the cause of the crash during the first week of October, but has stressed it will only address the cause of the crash, not the perpetrators.
The Board released a preliminary report last September saying damage to the plane’s forward fuselage and cockpit section appears to “indicate that there were impacts from a large number of high-energy objects from outside”.
AFP says that a criminal probe by a joint investigation team consisting of Australian, Belgian, Dutch, Malaysian and Ukrainian detectives is underway.
