The chief Dutch prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 has said the plane being shot down from the ground is the "most likely" scenario.

Fred Westerbeke of the Dutch National Prosecutors Office said the shooting-down scenario "is the one getting the most attention now" in the international criminal investigation.

The Boeing 777 came down over eastern Ukraine on July 17.

The plane went down over territory held by pro-Russian rebels, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

A separate Dutch air crash investigation concluded this week that the plane was hit from the outside by numerous high-energy objects, but stopped short of calling it a missile strike.

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