Flight 17 wreckage still lying in Ukraine

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AP Hrabove
Last Updated : Sep 10 2014 | 12:30 AM IST
A child's skipping rope, its yellow handles blistered and charred, lay today amid wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that was still strewn across fields of Eastern Ukraine more than seven weeks after the jet was shot down.
Chunks of fuselage carrying the Malaysian carrier's logo were lined up alongside a pro-Russian rebel roadblock while books, magazines, a child's shoe, and a burned page from a Tagalog language manual lay nearby.
Evidence of the July 17 aviation disaster that killed all 298 people on board the jet remained exposed to the elements as investigators hundreds of miles (kilometers) away in the Netherlands who have not visited the crash site released a preliminary report that left unanswered key questions about what exactly happened.
Its key conclusion is that the plane had no mechanical or other technical problem in the seconds before it broke up in midair likely after being struck by multiple "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft."
The slow pace of the investigation, its cautious preliminary conclusion and the fact that wreckage and human remains are still lying in Ukraine frustrated and angered families grieving for passengers who died.
"Well, I don't know what to say about this," said Samira Calehr, a Dutch mother who lost two sons, Miguel, 11, and Shaka, 19, in the crash.
She said that she wants the people responsible for downing the plane brought to justice "as soon as possible," pausing for emphasis on every word. "I want to know who killed my children."
Zenaida Ecal, a 53-year-old resident of Pagbilao in the northeastern Philippines, lost her best friend, Irene Gunawan, in the MH17 tragedy.
Ecal said the initial report discloses only what many already knew that the Malaysian plane came under fire and that the report still fails to identify the perpetrators.
A separate Dutch-led criminal investigation is underway aimed at bringing the perpetrators to justice.
"We just want all of the victims to be found, identified and given a proper burial. We want the perpetrators to be identified and punished. As long as these don't happen, all the families and friends of the victims will continue to suffer," Ecal said. "It's taking so long.
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First Published: Sep 10 2014 | 12:30 AM IST

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