Remains of 24-year-old Canadian on doomed Malaysia flight identified

AMSTERDAM – A Dutch-led forensic team says it has identified the remains of 23 victims aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, including a 24-year-old medical student from Ontario.

Andrei Anghel had been studying in Romania, and was on board the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight with his girlfriend, headed to Bali for a vacation.

A Dutch Justice Ministry spokesman says the forensic team has identified 18 Dutch victims, two Malaysians, a German and a Canadian.

Anghel was the only Canadian on the flight that was shot down July 17 over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 aboard.

Pro-Russian rebels have publicly denied downing the plane but one top rebel has told The Associated Press that the insurgents were involved.

The head of the Dutch forensic team says the bodies of about 176 people are “more or less” intact, and they are trying to identify the remaining victims from 527 sets of partial remains.

The dental records and fingerprints of victims have been gathered and DNA profiles are being assembled in a process expected to take months.