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Germany knew of threat prior to MH17 downing, report says

Investigative journalists say Germany was aware of the risk but did not act on it.

By Ed Adamczyk
Dutch investigators collect debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which crashed on July 16, 2014. Photo courtesy of Dutch Ministry of Defense.
Dutch investigators collect debris from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, which crashed on July 16, 2014. Photo courtesy of Dutch Ministry of Defense.

BERLIN, April 27 (UPI) -- The German government was warned of an increased risk of flying over Ukraine, reports claim, days before a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down.

Investigative reporters of German public television channels NDR and WDR, and the newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung said German diplomatic cables referred to the downing of a Ukrainian air force plane on July 14, 2014, from a height of about 20,000 feet as "very alarming," but did not pass any warning.

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Two days later a passenger plane flying at 33,000 feet, Malaysian Airlines MH17, was shot down, killing all 298 people aboard. An inquiry into the incident has suggested the plane was shot down by a Russian-built Buk missile launcher in rebel-held Ukrainian territory.

German intelligence had repeatedly cited a risk to aviation security over Ukraine, the report added.

A source at the German airline Lufthansa, though, said no information regarding security was given to the airline, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported.

The report added three Lufthansa planes flew over eastern Ukraine the day MH17 was shot down, one twenty minutes before the incident.

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