MH17 wreckage to be removed from Tuesday

Kiev, Nov 10 (IANS/TASS) The wreckage of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 will be removed from the crash site from Tuesday, the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) emergencies ministry said Monday.

Initially, the wreckage was scheduled to be removed Monday in the presence of representatives of the Council for Security of the Netherlands and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

However, due to the absence of Dutch representatives, the process was postponed, the DPR ministry said.

First Vice Premier Andrei Purgin said the wreckage of the jet would be removed within one or two weeks.

"The process is being prepared. It is technically complicated. I believe that it will take about two weeks," he said.

Purgin also said that the wreckage would be removed by railways, "more likely through the Zaporochye region".

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, crashed in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region July 17, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board, including 193 Dutch nationals. So far, 289 victims have been identified.

The Dutch Safety Board, leading the probe, said in its preliminary report in early September that flight MH17 broke up in the air probably as a result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside - implying rocket attack.

The crash occurred in a zone of combat between the Donetsk self-defence forces and the Ukrainian army.

--IANS/TASS

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