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Experts Positively Identify Remains of 173 MH17 Crash Victims


Wim Heijnen, head of medical forensic investigations at the Netherlands Forensic Institute, awaits the start of a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Aug. 27, 2014.
Wim Heijnen, head of medical forensic investigations at the Netherlands Forensic Institute, awaits the start of a press conference in The Hague, Netherlands, Aug. 27, 2014.

Experts working to identify victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 have gathered DNA samples from 283 people and positively identified 173.

The Netherlands Forensic Institute says the DNA samples do not all correspond to a victim's identification. Some of the samples appear to be from workers who gathered the bodies where the jet was shot down in eastern Ukraine.

The Forensic Institute says it hopes to identify more of the remains using super sensitive equipment and additional DNA samples. But it warns the process could take weeks or even months to complete.

All 298 people onboard died when the plane heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam crashed in eastern Ukraine. The flight was shot down on July 17 over an area controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

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