Report: Sky News Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 report prompts U.K. government probe

Sky News is being investigated by a British media regulator after one of its correspondents reporting from eastern Ukraine rummaged through an open suitcase and showed viewers some of the possessions of a passenger killed in the shoot-down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, according to British media outlets.

The BBC and Daily Mail reported that Ofcom, the communication regulator in the U.K., said it had received more than 200 complaints about the incident in which Colin Brazier picked through some of the items in a suitcase to point out some of the poignant reminders of the victims that remain at the scene days after the crash.

While still on the air of the July 20 broadcast, Brazier stopped looking through the bag and said he realized it wasn't appropriate.

"We shouldn't really be doing this, I suppose," he said.

The BBC quoted an Ofcom spokesman as saying that it found "there are grounds to investigate under our rule on potentially offensive material."

The communications watchdog said it would "take relevant circumstances into account, including any action taken by the broadcaster, in reaching a decision."

Last month, Sky News and Brazier apologized "profusely" for the incident.

"Colin immediately recognized that this was inappropriate and said so on air. Both Colin and Sky News apologize profusely for any offense caused," the network said in a written statement.

All 298 people on board died when the Boeing 777 was shot down on July 17. The plane was heading to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam and was shot out of the sky over an area of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russia separatists.