Malaysia will send search team to crash site of MH17 in Ukraine

A Malaysian search team will be sent to the crash site in Ukraine of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 before winter, to gather physical evidence to prove it was shot down, Prime Minister Najib Razak said on Saturday in a joint press conference with visiting Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott.

Najib said the government is confident that it has “conclusive” intelligence reports about what happened to the jet, carrying 298 passengers and therefore evidence of the flights crash needs to be gathered if the case goes to court. "That's why we are very, very keen to re-enter the crash site before winter sets in. We need at least a few weeks not only to search for the body parts of victims but to assemble physical evidence," said Najib. Adding, "once that process is completed, we will look at the criminal side, who is responsible for this atrocious crime."

Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17 earlier in the year, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur over an area of Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists. Most of the passengers on board were Dutch national, while there were also a number of Malaysians and Australians. The remains of 183 people have been identified out of the 298.