Dutch prosecutors said investigators found the body of an Australian passenger aboard the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 wearing an oxygen mask.

The new finding raises questions about what the passengers knew of their situation when the aircraft crashed in eastern Ukraine in July, according to the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).

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The mask was not on the passenger's face, but its strap was hanging around his neck, Dutch National Prosecutor's Office spokesman Wim de Bruin explained. The said office has an ongoing investigation into the MH17 tragedy.

Dutch forensic experts checked the said mask for saliva, DNA and fingerprints but they did not find any. As of now, they still do not know how or when the oxygen mask got around the Australian passenger's neck, De Bruin detailed.

The Australian passenger was the only one the investigators found wearing an oxygen mask, De Bruin continued. He also said he did not know the location of the victim's seat in the plane.

The passenger jet was on its way to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam when it crashed on July 17, killing all 298 people on board the aircraft, the report stated.

Last month, Dutch air crash investigators released a statement saying the plane was most likely brought down by several "high-energy objects" outside the plane. The findings are consistent with a missile strike, according to some aviation experts cited by SMH.

The criminal investigating team will most likely look at the possible scenario that the aircraft was hit from the ground, the head of the team said.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the said passenger were informed about the mask right after it was found. However, some relatives of the other victims only heard about the development from Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmerman, who mentioned the mask during a talk show interview on Wednesday.

On Thursday, the victims' relatives started asking the investigators about Timmerman's comments, according to De Bruin.

The foreign minister, on the other hand, released a statement expressing his regret for making the comments. He said he had no intention to add to the suffering of the MH17 victims' relatives.

TagsMH17, Malaysia Airlines, Ukraine, pro-Russia separatists, oxygen mask