Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 broke apart in midair after getting hit by a "large number of high-energy objects," a preliminary report released on Tuesday said.

The Dutch Safety Board (DSB) relied largely on available flight data, information from Ukrainian officials, and images and videos taken at the scene in their investigation of the MH17 crash.

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The new report confirmed that there was no evidence of human or technical errors before the crash that killed all 298 of its passengers and crew.

It neither apportioned blame nor said that the aircraft may have been hit by a missile, but the latest findings, according to CNN, appear to back up claims that a surface-to-air missile brought the plane down.

The damage detailed in the preliminary report is consistent with the theory of a warhead exploding near the passenger jet, reported BBC. The report rules out the alternative theory that a Ukrainian fighter jet, as reported in the Russian media, brought the plane down.

International experts have been unable to reach the crash site because of armed conflicted in the area.

However, data retrieved from the cockpit voice recorder, flight data recorders and air traffic control indicate that Flight MH17 proceeded as normal before stopping in midair over eastern Ukraine on the afternoon of July 17.

MH17 came down in northeast Donetsk, an area controlled by pro-Russian separatists. The angle of the strike suggests that the missile was launched from the rebel-controlled territory, reported The Wall Street Journal.

The United States and Ukraine have earlier accused Russia and the separatists operating in the region of shooting down the plane with a BUK missile. Russia, who has been accused by the West of supporting the pro-Kremlin insurgency, and rebels had blamed Ukrainian forces for the plane's demise.

Prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Zakharchenko, denied the allegations saying that his camp does not possess the military hardware capable of downing a Boeing passenger jet.

In the days following the crash, the separatists have taken over control of the site preventing international investigators from accessing the location. Forensic experts were forced to suspend their search for the victims' bodies because of the on-going crisis between Kiev and the rebels in the region.

The preliminary report on the crash indicated that that the aircraft had no known technical problem and that it was manned by qualified and experienced crew.

Based on MH17's maintenance history, the plane was "airworthy" when it left Amsterdam, reported DSB.

TagsMalaysia Airlines Flight MH17, Dutch Safety Board report, DSB report, Russia-Ukraine crisis