Ukraine this spring will renew its search for human remains at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, Dutch Security and Justice Minister Stef Blok has said.
The passenger jet was shot down over eastern Ukraine in mid-2014 on a routine flight between Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur. All 298 people on board died, the majority of them Dutch citizens.
"Contacts in the region have indicated they will renew the search for human remains and personal belongings in the spring, once the snow has disappeared," Blok told parliament on February 16.
His statement comes after journalists last month discovered a bone fragment belonging to one of the victims in Ukraine's Donbas region.
Members of the victims' families said they might push for a new official search in light of the discovery to ensure no remains are left behind,
But Blok denied claims by the journalists that "there was much more to be found."
"Many hours of filming made at the spot and shown to the investigating team failed to reveal any trace of human remains or personal belongings," he said.
