MH17 crash wreckage to be transported to Netherlands

Wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will be transported to the Netherlands and stored and investigated at the Gilze Rijen Air Base, the Dutch Safety Board stated Monday.

The Dutch agency, leading the investigation into the cause of the crash in eastern Ukraine July 17, announced that the wreckage will be loaded on trucks for transport from Kharkiv, Ukraine, to the Netherlands, Xinhua reported.

The wreckage of the aircraft will be reconstructed as part of the investigation.

The first of the convoys of trucks with the wreckage is expected to arrive at the Gilze Rijen Air Base next week.

Flight MH17 crashed July 17 this year, killing 298 people, of which 289 victims have been identified. Due to security issues in the area, the recovery of the wreckage only started Nov 16 and was completed one week later.

On Sep 9, the Safety Board issued its first preliminary report, stating the crash had an external cause, probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside.

There are no indications that the crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew, the report said.