Dutch team to inspect new areas of MH17 crash site

A team of 12 Dutch defense and police officers left for Ukraine on Friday to gather new evidence in areas previously considered unsafe due to fighting between rebels and government forces.

The Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice announced that the team would remain in the area in eastern Ukraine until at least March 28. The team is preparing the resumption of the Dutch repatriation mission next month.

The MH17 Malaysia Airlines flight crashed on July 17 last year, killing 298 people, of which 295 persons have so far been identified.

The Dutch team will inspect an area northwest of Petropavlivka, previously inaccessible due to the security situation. The team is working together with the authorities in the town of Kharkiv -- where plane wreckage has been collected -- along with other villages, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

On Thursday, Dutch news show RTL Nieuws claimed to have evidence that flight MH17 was taken down by a missile. The TV station will hand over its evidence to the Dutch Safety Board, who stated the material which was found will be included in their investigation.

"In the investigation of the accident to flight MH17, the Dutch Safety Board wants to be able to confirm a final conclusion against multiple sources," the Board said in a statement.

The Dutch Safety Board expects to publish a final report on the cause of the MH17 crash within a year after the crash. In September 2014, the agency issued a preliminary report, stating the crash had an external cause, probably as the result of structural damage caused by a large number of high-energy objects that penetrated the aircraft from outside. Endit