MH17 Crash Report Suggests Attempts Were Made to Cover up Causes of Tragedy

According to The Guardian, the efforts to cover up the causes include a bungled autopsy on the captain’s body, wherein foreign objects from a BUK missile were deliberately removed.

Australia's diplomatic relations with Russia have been tense since Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine in July last year, killing 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens. | (File/AP) 

LONDON: The long awaited report into the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash released by the Dutch Safety Board has suggested that attempts were made to cover up the causes of the downing of the plane.

According to The Guardian, the efforts to cover up the causes include a bungled autopsy on the captain’s body, wherein foreign objects from a BUK missile were deliberately removed.

Dutch investigators said in the report that a Russian-built BUK missile explosion ejected hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into the plane with “tremendous force”.

The chairman of the safety board, Tjibbe Joustra said that the BUK missile was fired from a rebel-controlled area.

However, investigators, earlier, declined to apportion blame for who had downed the plane.

The plane was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed over eastern Ukraine on 17 July 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board.