Four months after Malaysia Airlines’ MH17 flight was shot down over rebel-held eastern Ukraine, The Associated Press has obtained video footage that shows just how close the passenger jet came to hitting village homes, and suggests that residents first thought it to be a Ukrainian military plane.
While the ultimate cause of the MH17 disaster remains the subject of major diplomatic disputes, reports from ABC News on the new video footage claim that residents of the village of Hrabove can be heard asking about the whereabouts of the pilot.
ABC News reported this was significant because multiple Ukrainian military planes had been shot down by this time, and their pilots and crew were regularly being taken prisoner by rebel forces.
Three days before the MH17 was shot down, rebels claimed responsibility for shooting down an Antonov-24 military transport plane.
In another exchange in the new footage, a person can be heard asking whether more than one plane had crashed, due to the significant amount of debris present.
All 298 people aboard the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur were killed when it was shot down over a rebel-held area, with recovery operations of the wreckage delayed amid continuing conflicts between government troops and separatist fighters.
You can view the video here at ABC News.
