MH17 tragedy was ‘gross mass murder’
A coroner has described the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines’ flight MH17 as a ‘gross mass murder’ during an inquest in which the families of the victims were sown a graphic reconstruction of how the aircraft was blown up.
Dutch air crash investigators created the video to simulate the last moments of the flight as it was shot down by a Russian missile over Ukraine in 2014 as it travelled from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
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Of the 298 people on board who died, 38 were Australian so an inquest into their deaths has opened in New South Wales.
NSW state coroner Michael Barnes said: "Coroners do not make findings of criminal guilt but it would be pointless sophistry not to acknowledge that these deaths were part of a gross mass murder."
The video shown at the inquest, attended by the families of six o the victims, demonstrates how the missile exploded close to the cockpit, killing the pilots and breaking off the front of the aircraft.~It sent fragments into the plane, which were later found in the bodies of the crew.
The inquest heard that all passengers died or lost consciousness ‘shortly after the aircraft was struck’.~
A Dutch investigation revealed that the missile contained a warhead made in Russia
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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