MH17 crash: Malaysian PM to visit Netherlands

According to a Xinhua report, the leaders will discuss the crash, especially whether Malaysian pathologists could help expedite the process of identifying the human remains

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the Netherlands on Wednesday and meet his counterpart Mark Rutte for talks on the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed after being shot down over Ukraine, his office said Saturday.

It said that the two leaders would discuss the MH17 crash, especially whether Malaysian pathologists could help expedite the process of identifying the human remains, Xinhua reported.

"The prime ministers will also discuss of securing full access to the crash site and the ability to collect evidence so that the international team can complete a comprehensive investigation to determine the cause of the crash," the office said.

The office said that since Malaysia made an agreement with those in control of the crash site, a team of three Malaysian investigators had visited the crash site on three separate occasions, July 22, 23, and 24, each of which lasted about three hours.

"The investigators managed to observe some of the crash site, and take notes and photographs. However, given its large size, they have been unable to visit the entire crash site," the office said.

It said that a preliminary report of the findings were currently being compiled by the Malaysian investigators.

Flight MH17, a Boeing 777, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed after being hit by a missile in Ukraine near the Russian border July 17, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

This is the second major tragedy for Malaysia Airlines this year after flight MH370 with 239 passengers and crew on board went missing while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing March 8. The flight remains untraced till date despite intense international search efforts.