Missing plane debris found: Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 debris and human remains found, MH370 judged to be an 'accident'

AMSTERDAM -- A Dutch search team recovered human remains and debris from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine Monday, Dutch government officials said. The airplane was shot down July 17, killing all 298 passengers and the entire crew, two-thirds of them Dutch.

Forensics teams in the Netherlands have so far identified 295 victims with DNA testing.

Dutch military and police officials, working with the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), found body parts near the town of Grabovo, close to the main crash site, a statement said.

"They recovered personal belongings and some pieces of wreckage that were found by residents," it said. The team planned to continue the search in nearby villages if the security situation in coming days permits.

The Dutch government is currently conducting an international investigation into how the plane was brought down. It is widely believed to have been shot down by a ground-to-air missile fired from territory held by pro-Russian insurgents.

News of MH17 came just days after the Malaysian government declared their other missing flight, MH370, an "accident" about 10 months after it disappeared. The Malaysia Airlines flight went missing March 8 of last year while heading from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, and investigators were not able to find evidence of the plane or the 239 passengers aboard.

"We officially declare Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 an accident ... and that all 239 of the passengers and crew onboard MH370 are presumed to have lost their lives," Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, the director-general of the Department of Civil Aviation, said in a statement.

The director-general said that the families of the passengers, many of whom were Chinese, will be compensated accordingly by the airline. However, Chinese officials say that compensation is not the only responsibility the airline has to next-of-kin.

"We hope the Malaysian side honours its promises and fully investigates the incident, settling claims and making peace with the families, especially continuing to make all efforts to find the missing plane and its passengers," said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang in a statement.

Investigators have not been able to find the flight recorders for MH370, so they have not been able to determine what caused the accident.