Dutch Safety Board to join MH17 crash probe

A Dutch Safety Board team will travel to Ukraine to cooperate with an international research team to investigate the circumstances and cause of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash, a Dutch official said Friday.

Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten made the announcement at a press conference here.

He did not draw a conclusion yet about the cause of the disaster, according to Xinhua.

"Based on our current information, the plane was shot down, but it is important to find out what exactly happened," he said. "Research should determine the exact cause."

The Dutch minister said, as part of an international research team, the Dutch professionals want to help with research on the location where the plane came down.

"We want to know what the cause is, the exact passenger list and the flying route," he said.

The Being 777, en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, crashed Thursday afternoon in the conflict-hit Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

According to a latest list given by Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong La, there were 173 Dutch passengers on board the doomed aircraft. Among others were 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine British, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian, and one New Zealander.

"This number (of Dutch passengers) may still rise," said Opstelten. "The identities of all the victims is not yet known. Right now our concern is the families. All people in the Netherlands are mourning."