MH17 identification process begins Tim Willcox in Kiev says it is a very traumatic time for relatives of the victims Forensic experts have begun identifying the victims of the MH17 plane crash in Ukraine, international police say. The remains, which were earlier moved out of territory held by pro-Russian rebels, are due to be flown from the city of Kharkiv to the Netherlands. It has emerged that only 200 bodies arrived in Kharkiv - not 282 as claimed by the rebels, Dutch officials said. The Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in a rebel-controlled area last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board. Western nations say there is growing evidence the rebels shot down the plane using a missile supplied by Russia. Russia has suggested Ukrainian government forces are to blame. More bargaining needed In a statement, Interpol said international experts in Kharkiv would carry out preliminary examinations on the bodies before their transport to the Netherlands. Most of those who died when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 crashed were Dutch, and the first remains are due to be flown from Kharkiv to the Dutch city of Eindhoven on Wednesday. Experts have expressed concern that forensic evidence at the crash site could be lost From there, they will go to a facility in the city of Hilversum for identification - a process which Dutch officials say could take months. Interpol said the remains of victims recovered so far from the crash site had been labelled and numbered before being transported in refrigerated freight wagons from Donetsk to Kharkiv. The head of the Dutch forensics team, Jain Tuinder, has revealed that the train which arrived in Kharkiv earlier on Tuesday contained 200 bodies - significantly less than that claimed by separatist leader Alexander Borodai. Mr Tuinder said investigators would have to go back to the crash site to carry out another search. We will not leave until every remain has left this country so we will have to go on and bargain again with the people over there, he told journalists in Kharkiv on Tuesday evening. Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe examining the wreckage found that major pieces of the plane had been cut into and that large parts now looked different. Countries directly affected by the disaster, such as the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK, have been concerned that the crash site was not properly sealed off, with the risk that valuable evidence could be put at risk. The planes black box flight recorders, which were handed over by rebels to Malaysian officials, will be flown to a laboratory in the UK for analysis. Analysis: Jonathan Sumberg, BBC transport reporter It could take no longer than 24 hours to retrieve information from the black boxes, handed over by the rebels on Monday Why are the black boxes being examined in the UK? The British Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AIIB) tell me they are one of only two so-called replay units in Europe with the necessary equipment to listen to what has been recorded on the cockpit voice recorder. The other is in France. They have the kit to analyse in minute detail what can be heard in the last few minutes of flight MH17. The information is incredibly sensitive so investigators gather in a sealed room so that only those that should be listening can listen. There are four speakers on the walls creating a surround sound - anything to help the investigators hear exactly what went on. They may even hear any explosion. The AIIB wont tell me when they expect to get their hands on the black boxes. But investigators are confident that, depending on the extent of the damage, they can retrieve information from the boxes within 24 hours. New Russia sanctions European Union foreign ministers have announced they will impose more sanctions against Russia over its alleged backing for the rebels - something Moscow denies. A newly released satellite image shows the crash site in the middle of Grabove in eastern Ukraine They said the list of individuals and groups covered by EU sanctions would be broadened and a new list drawn up by EU ambassadors by Thursday at the latest. The word is cronies: the cronies of [Vladimir] Putin and his clique in the Kremlin are the people who have to bear the pressure, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said after the meeting in Brussels. Ministers will also ask the European Commission to look at an embargo on new arms sales to Russia and to increase punitive measures against Russia in the financial and energy sectors. Both the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Russia following its annexation of Crimea in March and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine. Fighting between separatists and Ukrainian troops has continued in the key rebel stronghold of Donetsk Meanwhile, the conflict between Ukrainian government forces and rebels has continued, with reports of fighting round Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said the army had captured the strategically important town of Severodonetsk, located some 140km (87 miles) from the key rebel stronghold of Donetsk. Parliament has also approved the call-up of more military reserves and men under 50. Thirteen Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the past 24 hours, a Ukrainian security official said. Three of them died as a bus packed with explosives blew up at a roadblock. The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 18:30:50 +0000
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