MH17 crash: Passengers onboard flight were already dead, claims rebel leader

Igor Girkin (middle) flanked by his men. - AFP

PETALING JAYA: A top pro-Russia separatist leader has claimed that the victims of Malaysia Airlines (MAS) flight MH17 may have already been dead before the plane took off from Amsterdam on Thursday.

Rebel leader Igor Girkin is reported as having said that he was told by people at the crash site that “a significant number of the bodies weren’t fresh”.