Crash investigators to piece together wreckage of shot down Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane

CRASH investigators will try to piece together the wreckage of the Malaysia Airlines plane that was shot down over Ukraine and left 298 people dead.

The wreckage of MH17 arrived in HollandREUTERS

A woman watches as the remains of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrives at a Dutch military base

The remains of flight MH17 arrived at a air force hanger in Holland today as experts try to determine exactly what brought down the passenger jet.

The Dutch Safety Board said the wreckage would be photographed, scanned and a reconstruction of the airliner would be attempted.

However, its head Tjibbe Joustr said parts of the Boeing 777 are missing and that it will take several months to try to piece the plane together.

He said: "There were also some parts missing.

"We know that they were missing, but we think that we can be more than satisfied about the amount of wreckage we have."

A report on the cause of the crash is not expected until the middle of next year.

The wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17REUTERS

The wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was transported by eight trucks

The remains of flight MH17 arrived at a Dutch air force hanger as experts try to determine exactly what brought down the passenger jet

A parallel criminal investigation is being conducted by Dutch prosecutors in 11 countries to identify possible culprits.

Two-thirds of the passengers on board the flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur which was shot down on July 17 were from Holland.

The White House and its allies believe pro-Russian rebels involved in the conflict between Kiev and Moscow hit the plane with a surface-to-air missile.

While Vladimir Putin's regime said the missile came from a Ukrainian government jet.

All the crew and passengers onboard the flight MH17 were killed during the air disaster.

The wreckage of the plane arrived at a Dutch military base in the town of Gilze-Rijen earlier today watched by dozens of relatives of the victims.

Eight flatbed trucks transported the remains of the Boeing 777 which was under covers.

Ukrainian emergency services operating under Dutch supervision picked up wreckage considered most valuable for the inquiry during a six-day operation in November.

Bits of fuselage could help determine what direction the missile came from.

Debris from the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crashAP

Debris from the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Ukraine where it was shot down

Grieving families have protested against delays in the investigation after debris lay strewn across the crash site for months.

The wreckage was transferred under a deal with Kiev and pro-Russian separatists which was mediated.

The Dutch government tonight rejected a proposal from victims' relatives calling for the United Nations (UN) to take charge of criminal investigations into the disaster.

The request to appoint a special UN envoy to take over the inquiry was sent by a law firm representing 20 relatives on Friday.

They had accused Holland of failing to build a legal case to prosecute those responsible.

MH17 wreckage arrives at Dutch base for reconstruction

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