Dutch expert fired for making MH17 victims' photos public

A Dutch expert, who was helping to identify victims from last year's Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 that crashed in Ukraine, has been fired from the investigation team after he showed photographs of the dead at a public lecture without their families' consent, media reported on Friday.

George Maat, an anthropologist at Leiden University in the Netherland's Maastricht, showed photos of victims' body parts without the families' permission and explained elements of the identification process at the public event which was organised by the Medical Students Association, the Mirror reported.

The lecture was given in early April to an audience of around 150 people.

A Facebook page advertising the lecture clearly said that it was open to the public.

"The collaboration with George Maat has been terminated," Dutch Justice Minister Ard van der Steur was quoted as telling lawmakers in parliament.

The minister had earlier described the lecture as "completely inappropriate and in bad taste".

Journalists from private television channel RTL Nieuws first reported the matter.

All 298 passengers and crew on board MH17, most of them Dutch, died when it was allegedly shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine in July last year.