MH17 Video Captures The Moments After Airplane Was Downed In Ukraine

A just-released video depicts the moments after Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed near the village of Hrabove, Ukraine, July 17, the Associated Press reported. Residents can be seen running to the area where MH17 crashed. A large cloud of black smoke and burning wreckage can be seen in the background with debris strewn across a street near several houses. All 298 passengers and crew aboard MH17 were killed.

U.S. and Western governments have said pro-Russian separatists used a Buk missile system and accidentally downed the plane, mistaking it for a Ukrainian military aircraft. Russia has denied providing separatists with supplies, training and weapons, but a separatist official told AP a missile system arrived at the town of Snizhne and a team of separatists and Russian personnel downed MH17. On July 14, the separatists had downed a Ukrainian military transport plane and on July 17 they initially claimed responsibility for downing another Ukrainian military plane.

In the video, residents are heard asking where the pilot was and if more than one plane crashed, the AP said. Recovery efforts at the MH17 crash site were hindered due to fighting in the area, creating further tension in eastern Ukraine and intervention by the U.N. Security Council. The MH17 black boxes were taken by the separatists and were given to Malaysian officials following negotiations with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The downing of MH17 remains a contentious issue, with the latest example being a report on state-run Russian television highlighting a satellite photo purportedly showing the plane was downed by a Ukrainian fighter jet. The photo was quickly dismissed as a fake.

The Dutch Safety Board Sunday recovered pieces of MH17 wreckage from the crash site. The board will reconstruct a section the plane and will investigate the cause of the crash.

The MH17 video can be viewed below.