# Cause of death on flight MH17

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-on-flight-mh17/693993>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 25, 2014, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-on-flight-mh17/693993 "2014-07-25T04:12:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-on-flight-mh17/693993/21 "2014-07-27T12:35:29Z")

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Why would it point to that?

Anyway, re this thread, maybe some ignorance is better left unfought.

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**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-on-flight-mh17/693993/22 "2014-07-27T14:48:51Z")

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I thought if the people were alive and conscious, they’d use “people” or “victims” instead of “bodies”. Maybe it’s a matter of translation.

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**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cause-of-death-on-flight-mh17/693993/23 "2014-07-27T19:48:54Z")

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Under the circumstances, it would be impossible to determine if the physical objects tumbling out of the sky were unconscious, conscious, or dead. “Bodies” is as accurate a description as any, just remember bodies can be either alive or dead. And… quite likely people were hoping those folks were NOT aware of what was happening to them as they fell towards impact.

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