Ukrainian government should be responsible for investigation of MH17 incident: Malaysian official

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai said here Friday in a press conference that according to the International Civil Aviation Organization's Annex 13, the Ukrainian government should institute an investigation into the circumstances of the deadly MH17 incident, and be responsible for the conduct of the investigation.

He said Malaysia would offer its full and unqualified support to the investigation. "Malaysia has been formally invited to participate, and will send two senior accredited representatives to assist." Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, a Boeing 777-200, was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed Thursday in eastern Ukraine with 298 passengers and crew aboard, including 43 Malaysian citizens. No survivors have been found. Liow said Malaysia welcomed calls for an independent international investigation into the incident, and insisted that the integrity of the crash site should be preserved.

The minister promised that Malaysia Airlines would take its responsibilities to the next of kin of the victims seriously, adding the company had arranged about 40 staff to be flown to Amsterdam to support the families.

"In total, 62 people -- 30 SMART team members, 15 medical staff, 10 Royal Malaysia Air Force representatives, five Malaysia Airlines staff, two Department of Civil Aviation staff -- are traveling to Kiev," he said. Liow also gave an update on the nationalities of the passengers on board the aircraft, saying there were still 20 remaining to be verified.

According to a latest list given by him, there were 173 people from the Netherlands, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, nine British, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian, and one New Zealander. "Once all families have been contacted, the passenger manifest will be released," he said, adding that Malaysia Airlines would release the cargo manifest later Friday.

As to the flight path of MH17, Liow said it was approved by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and by the countries whose airspace the route passes through. "And the International Air Transportation Association has also stated that the airspace the aircraft was traversing was unrestricted," he added. He said 15 out of 16 airlines under the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines fly this route over Ukraine, and European airlines also used the same route, and traversed the same airspace.

"In the hours before the incident, a number of other passenger aircraft from different carriers used the same route," he added. The minister also said there were no last minute instructions given to the pilots of MH17 to change the route of the flight. Liow said officials in the United States and Ukraine had indicated that MH17 was shot down. "Should this be confirmed, it would contravene international law, and be an outrage against human decency," he stressed.

Liow said Malaysia condemned any such action in the strongest possible terms, and called for those responsible to be swiftly brought to justice.

When asked whether the Malaysia Airlines chose this flight path in a bid to save fuel cost, he said such reports were not true.