Iran admitting shooting down Ukrainian airliner an important step: Ukrainian PM

KIEV -- The fact that Iran admitted downing the Ukrainian Boeing 737 is an important step of the ongoing investigation in the plane crash, Ukrainian Prime Minister Oleksiy Honcharuk said in his official Telegram channel on Saturday.

Honcharuk informed that Ukrainian experts are continuing to search for evidence related to the tragedy and have studied the "black boxes" together with the Civil Aviation Organization of Iran.

The official also noted that experts are working on identifying the victims of the tragedy. DNA samples had been collected from the relatives of people killed in the plane crash and the data has been sent to the experts working on the site.

"We are working on completing the identification and on bringing the bodies of the dead Ukrainian citizens home as soon as possible. Ukraine will do everything possible to find out the details of the tragedy and support the families of the victims," the prime minister said.

Earlier Saturday Iranian President Hassan Rouhani stated Iranian Armed Forces' internal investigation had concluded that unintentional missile strike due to human error caused the crash of the Ukrainian plane.

A total of 167 passengers and 9 crew members were killed on Jan 8 as the result of the plane crash of the Ukrainian Boeing 737, which was flying from Tehran to Kiev. The airplane crashed at approximately 6 am Tehran Time shortly after takeoff.