Missile confirmed to have downed Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17

Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 crashed as a result of a Russian-made Buk missile, the Dutch Safety Board says, the BBC reports.

The missile hit the front left of the plane causing other parts to break off, it said in a final report into the July 2014 disaster, which killed 298 people.

The report does not say who fired the missile, but says airspace over eastern Ukraine should have been closed.

The plane – flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur – crashed at the height of the conflict between government troops and pro-Russian separatists.

Most of the victims were Dutch – 196, including some with dual nationality. The other passengers and crew were nationals from 10 countries.