Malaysia Airlines MH17 Was Shot Down By Buk Missile
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Investigators have concluded Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down by a Buk missile over eastern Ukraine, victims' relatives have been told.
The Boeing 777 was brought down as it flew over heavy fighting between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists last year, killing all 298 people on board.
Relatives of those on the flight were told their loved ones died almost instantly, according to the findings of the investigation led by the Dutch Safety Board.
Those not killed by the missile's impact would been rendered unconscious by the sudden decompression of the aircraft and a lack of oxygen at 33,000 feet, the board's official report found.
The Dutch Safety Board found the Buk surface-to-air missile exploded less than a metre from the MH17 cockpit, to the left of the aircraft.
Fragments of the missile were discovered in the bodies of the three crew in the cockpit, the board said.
The Dutch report also said the plane should never have been flying over eastern Ukraine and that the country should have closed its airspace to civil aviation.
rest in peace.
