Melbourne: Investigators probing the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash have reportedly uncovered a new footage that showed rebels sifting through the burning wreck and passengers' luggage and bragging about what they thought was a Ukraine military aircraft.
According to News.com.au, the 23-minute-long video clip showed the Boeing flight engulfed in flames while a person, recording the scene on his smartphone, filmed his colleagues in a state of excitement over the shooting down of the plane which they thought was a Ukraine airforce Antonov transporter aircraft.
The footage clearly shows the distinctive Malaysian Airlines upholstery with armed troops remarking that the flight did not appear to be military.
The video clip was found being passed around rebels in Donetsk before a copy was smuggled out to the investigators.
The revelation came as the Dutch-led team of investigators announced that the physical reconstruction of the aircraft had now been finished and that they would invite the families of the 298 victims killed in the crash to see their progress.
However, they are unlikely to be shown the 23-minute-long graphic video clip showing human remains along with the burning aircraft.
The footage, from which a transcript has been produced, contradicted claims made by pro-Russia separatists that the crash site was treated with dignity and passengers' bags were not ransacked. It also casts doubts over claims that they had no idea about the incident and suspected that it was a Ukrainian plot to bring Western allies into the civil conflict.
