STORY: :: At a 10th anniversary vigil, an MH17 crash eyewitness recalls seeing bodies falling from the sky
:: July 17, 2024
:: Near Hrabove, Russian-controlled Ukraine
:: Natalia Petrova, MH17 crash eyewitness
:: "My granddaughter was with me, she only yelled 'Grandma'. That shockwave broke the glass in our shower and slammed shut the metal door of our garage. I saw a cloud of smoke, I got scared, that pillar of smoke began to spread at the top like a mushroom, I thought it looked like Hiroshima. That bang. And something started to fall from the skies, at first we couldn't understand what it was. I thought they were dropping something on us. My neighbors and I ran over there, and realized that those were humans falling, because there was luggage falling in (the neighboring settlement of) Rozsipne, but here were humans. It was a mish-mash of human flesh, excuse me. It was a horrible day."
Local resident Natalia Petrova, who witnessed the crash, also spoke to Reuters about her experiences in the immediate aftermath.
After years of collecting evidence, a Dutch-led international Joint Investigation Team (JIT) last year said the missile launcher used to hit the civilian airplane came from a Russian army base just across the border. Russia has denied any involvement in the downing of the civilian airliner.
