MH17 found - On Thursday, a Dutch public prosecutor claimed to have found an oxygen mask around only one of the victims killed in the Malaysia Flight 17 crash. This finding has ruled out earlier reports that the victims had died instantly.
The MH17 found 80 kilometres east of Donetsk showed only a part of the airplane wreckage. Last month, reports by investigations stated the flight that started from Amsterdam on its way to Kuala Lumpur had been shot down by missiles. Officials leading the investigation failed however to state who had fired the missiles.
In addition to the investigation on the MH17 found, new findings on one particular victim claim the passengers did not die instantly. One victim had an oxygen mask around his neck which means he was still conscious during the plane crash. Earlier reports stated that everyone on the plane died instantly due to decompression. There was no mention of oxygen masks used until now.
"People hardly had time to notice the missile coming, but do you know that one of the victims was found with an oxygen mask over their mouth? This means that someone had time to do that. At least, we cannot rule out this possibility," stated Dutch Foreign Minister Franz Timmermans.
A couple of seconds could pass before the plane disintegrated. This is enough to grab a mask that falls automatically in front of your face and put it on - this is [survival] instinct," added a test pilot from Russia, Magomed Talboev.
The victim of the MH17 found with an oxygen mask was an Australian citizen. Aside from him, no other victims of the MH17 found had been wearing oxygen masks. The other victims of the plane crash were mostly Dutch citizens amounting to 196. All 15 crewmembers and 283 passengers of the flight died.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
