KIEV: A plane carrying remains of victims from downed flight MH17 arrived in the Netherlands yesterday as Malaysian experts joined the international probe at the crash site in eastern Ukraine.
The Dutch military transport plane carried a single coffin filled with human remains which Ukraine said had been found in the search operation, as well as DNA and belongings that had been kept in the rebel-held city of Donetsk for some time.
Before yesterday’s flight, 227 coffins had been taken to the Netherlands, which suffered the most casualties in the July 17 crash, for the painstaking identification process.
A total of 298 passengers and crew were killed when the Malaysia Airlines jet — flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur — was blown out of the sky almost three weeks ago.
The probe into the crash — the second plane disaster involving Malaysia Airlines this year — has been repeatedly delayed because of fighting in the region between government forces and pro-Moscow separatist fighters.
The United States says insurgents shot down the plane with a surface-to-air missile likely supplied by Russia, but Moscow and the rebels blame the Ukrainian military.
Yesterday, Malaysian experts joined Dutch and Australian police for the first time as they continued combing the area for traces of the victims, according to a statement from the Dutch security and justice ministry.
The experts were briefly prevented from accessing the rebel-held site but eventually let through, according to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has been monitoring the situation in Ukraine.
“Work has resumed at the MH17 crash site by 100-plus experts,” it tweeted yesterday afternoon.
AFP
