MH17 Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai has declined to speculate whether a missile was the source of the "high-energy objects" that struck down Malaysian Airlines Flight 17, saying that more analysis is needed to reach this conclusion.
"I can't speculate. The report stated it clearly: this is a factual report. This a very detailed report that we have. We have announce to the public based on this report.
"It has been confirmed that it is (due to) high-energy objects hitting the plane.
"It is from the outside (going) in, and that caused the plane’s structural breakup in air," he told a press conference today following the release of the preliminary report of the incident.
This echoes Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak who said that the findings raise “strong suspicion” that the plane was shot a surface-to-air missile.
“But further investigative work is needed before we can be certain," he said in a statement.
He added that the report also clears the crew “acted properly”, as it was flying through unrestricted airspace via a route cleared by air traffic controllers.
In the meantime, he said, it is of utmost importance that investigators gain full access to the crash site, including to collect other human remains.
“We owe it to the families, who are in our thoughts today.”
MH17, with 298 passengers and crew, was shot down on July 17 while flying over a conflict zone between Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists.
The Dutch Safety Board, which Ukrainian authorities had delegated to conduct the investigation, released its preliminary findings earlier this evening after a deadline extension of about three weeks.
Liow said among the work that is still needed find the perpetrators of MH17’s shooting include further analysis of the aircraft’s black boxes, securing safe passage to the crash site, forensic analysis of the aircraft’s wreckage, and studying the pathology reports of the victims.
“Somebody has to be responsible for this (incident). Somebody pressed the button to shoot down the plane. We would like to find out who is the person,” he said.
He added that the remains of nine more Malaysians have yet to be recovered from the crash site.
In addition to areas for further analysis that Liow mentioned, the preliminary report also listed the Malaysia Airline’s and Ukraine’s procedures for flights over conflict zones and high-risk areas as among the areas that require more study.
The Dutch Safety Board is to release its second report on MH17 incident in a year.
Previously, in the immediate aftermath of the MH17 shooting, Ukrainian authorities had blamed the incident on a Buk missile allegedly fired from the separatists, which in turn is supplied by Russia.
Separatist forces have denied possessing Buk or similar anti-aircraft missiles and blamed the Ukrainian armed forces for the shooting, while Russia has denied arming the separatists with the weapons.
The Buk is a medium-range surface-to-air missile that is designed to detonate near its target.
The explosion sends a cloud metal shrapnel towards the target, shredding it apart and damaging vital aircraft components.
