Families of MH17 crew file suit against Malaysia Airlines

Families of six Malaysia Airlines crew members who were killed when flight MH17 was shot down over Ukraine nearly two years ago filed a lawsuit on Thursday blaming the carrier for the tragedy.

The suit accuses the airline of neg-ligence and breach of contract and is believed to be the first filed against the company over the 2014 disaster, said Balan Nair, a lawyer representing families of the six Malaysian crew members.

It comes two weeks after a suit by 33 next-of-kin from Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia was filed against Russia and President Vladimir Putin in the European Court of Human Rights.

All 298 passengers and crew - the majority of them Dutch - died when the Boeing 777 was hit by a Russian-made BUK anti-aircraft missile over war-torn eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014.