You're reading: Dutch government releases shortened version of documents on MH17 disaster

Washington - The Dutch government has posted dozens of significantly shortened documents connected to the Flight MH17 disaster in eastern Ukraine, the Associated Press agency reported.


In a letter to the media, the authorities explained that certain sections of the documents had been left out to protect privacy, to ensure the safety of Dutch experts who had worked at the crash site, and that this was in the interest of the Netherlands’ relations with other states.

The leaders of RTL Dutch TV Channel disapproved of the omissions and said they would protest the editing and sue the government if needed.

As reported, a Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam, the Netherlands to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with the flight number MH17, was shot down in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board were killed. They included 192 Dutch citizens (one also had U.S. citizenship), 44 Malaysians, including the 15 crew members, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, ten Britons (one also had South African citizenship), four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, one Canadian and one New Zealander.