Recovery MH17 wreckage to be completed in five days

Soft toys are seen near the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 plane (flight MH17) near the settlement of Grabovo in the Donetsk region November 16, 2014. [Photo/Agencies]

THE HAGUE - The recovery of the wreckage of flight MH17 will be completed in around five days, the Dutch Safety Board, leading the investigation into the crash in eastern Ukraine, announced on Monday.

The recovery of the wreckage started on Sunday and among other things the tail section of the aircraft was recovered on Monday. The wreckage will be transported by train to Kharkiv and finally to The Netherlands.

When the conditions allow it and stay similar, the recovery will continue on Tuesday and last around five more days, According to the Safety Board.

The Board has commissioned the recovery of the wreckage for the investigation into the cause of the crash. This includes a (partial) reconstruction of the aircraft.

The Malaysian Airlines flight crashed on July 17, killing 298 people.

On Sept. 9 the Safety Board issued its first 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. There are no indications that the crash was caused by a technical fault or by actions of the crew.

During the recovery activities on Sunday and Monday, new human remains were found as well. These remains will undergo a forensic check in Kharkiv and will be transported for identification to the Netherlands in due course.

According to the last count of the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice a total of 289 victims have been identified yet.