MH17 judges reject request to investigate alternative crash scenarios

FILE PHOTO: Toys are placed at a memorial to victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 plane crash near the village of Hrabove in Donetsk region, Ukraine March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Judges hearing the case against four defendants in the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine rejected on Wednesday a defence request for more time to investigate alternative explanations for the crash.

MH17 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down by a missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian rebels during fighting with Ukrainian government troops, international investigators say. All 298 people on board were killed, two-thirds of them Dutch nationals.