A Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur has crashed in eastern Ukraine. There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the Boeing-777 aircraft.
22 August 2014
The bodies and ashes of first 20 Malaysian victims of MH17 crash arrived in Kuala Lumpur on a charted Malaysian Airlines jet from Amsterdam, AP reports.
The remains of the victims were met with a solemn ceremony at the airport by lines of honor guards.
The Malaysian government has proclaimed August 22 a national day of mourning, urging people to wear black and observe a minute of silence and prayer.
11 August 2014
Dutch air crash investigators expect to make public the initial report of the MH17 crash "in a few weeks.”
"We have sufficient information to compile a preliminary report," said Wim van der Weegen, spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board (OVV). "We hope that it will be ready in a few weeks," he told AFP, adding that the Dutch investigators had returned to the Netherlands without visiting the crash site.
"In order to analyze the information...it's not essential to remain in Ukraine," Van der Weegen told AFP, adding that the team will now be based in The Hague.
09 August 2014
Sixty-five out of 298 MH17 Malaysia Airlines crash victims have been identified in the Netherlands, the country’s Ministry of Security and Justice stated.
Thirty-nine of the victims were citizens of the Netherlands, while 26 were foreigners.
“Due to demands from the countries’ embassies, the information on the citizenship will not be revealed from now on,” the Ministry stated, adding that the families of the victims have already been notified.
06 August 2014
The Netherlands is halting the mission to recover victims and debris of the MH17 Malaysia Airlines crash because of fighting between Ukrainian forces and militias in eastern Ukraine, the Dutch prime minister said on Wednesday.
"The security situation in eastern Ukraine and the MH17 crash site has worsened by the day," PM Mark Rutte said. "That is making it impossible for experts to do their work."
He said it made no sense to continue the operation under the current conditions.
The team of 70 Australian, Dutch and Malaysian experts is still trying to find the missing victims and their belongings. An international crash investigation has yet to conduct on-site inquiries. Earlier, the Dutch Safety Board said their preliminary report into the crash is delayed for weeks.
US military personal arrived in Kiev to form a survey and assessment team, in order to consult the group of international experts conducting the recovery of the downed Malaysian plane in eastern Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
“At the request of the State Department a small survey and assessment team from US European Command did arrive today at the embassy in Kiev to assess, advice and provide recommendations to the US embassy and their staff there about possible US support to the Netherlands, Australia, Malaysia and other partners there conducting the Malaysia Air recovery operation,” Kirby said. “They are military and they will not leave Kiev.”
US European Command spokesman US Navy Captain Gregory Hicks added that the team would have an advisory role, assisting the US Embassy in Kiev in determining possible US support to the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Australia in the MH17 investigation and recovery.
"The team would work in coordination with and support the FBI team already on the ground," he said. "They will not participate in actual recovery operations. The team will be in Kiev for as long as required in support of the overall US contribution to the investigation.”
05 August 2014
A new area of the MH17 crash site has been identified by international experts investigating the downing of the Malaysian plane. The experts started searching the newly discovered area on Monday and have already collected several objects belonging to the victims, according to the latest OSCE report. The location is between the villages of Petropavlovskoe and Rassypnoe in eastern Ukraine.
The international team of police officers and experts were able to complete search and recovery work at the site where flight MH17 crashed two weeks ago, said Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the head of the mission.
“The experts searched a large area near the village of Rossupnoye. The work had to be stopped temporarily due to negotiations being conducted by the OSCE. A smaller group of experts was able to work undisturbed for the rest of the afternoon. The search in this area is now completed,” Aalbersberg said.
He added that a small number of personal belongings were found and taken to the base in Soledar.
“They will be transferred to Kharkov, where they will undergo an initial forensic examination. No human remains were found today.”
Intl experts (110) from Australia, NL, Malaysia at #MH17 site. Accompanied by 9 SMMU monitors. 17 vehicle convoy today. Focus on remains
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) August 5, 2014
04 August 2014
International forensic experts have resumed work at the site of the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane in the Donetsk Region, OSCE spokesman, Shiv Sharma, told ITAR-TASS.
The work in the area has been resumed. It were disrupted so that the experts could evaluate the safety situation on the crash site, he added.
Work has resumed at the #MH17 crash site by 100+ experts, accompanied by 8 SMMU monitors
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) August 4, 2014
03 August 2014
The head of a team of international investigators says more personal belongings of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster in eastern Ukraine have been found, but no human remains, AP reports.
Over 100 international experts are searching for the bodies of victims from the Malaysian MH17 plane, which crashed in east Ukraine in June, Shiv Sharma, OSCE spokesman, said.
“Today, over 100 experts arrived at the crash site. Their search is concentrated in the area of a field near the town of Rassypnoye,” he told ITAR-TASS news agency.
They have arrived to assist Dutch and Australian experts, who have been searching the crash site for the bodies of the victims and their personal belonging for the last three days, the OSCE spokesman said.
NATO has “a lot of information” that the anti-Kiev militia in eastern Ukraine is behind the MH17 crash in the Donetsk Region last month, the alliance’s Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, told France’s Midi Libre newspaper.
He said NATO now considers Russia a foe.
"I regret this because we must develop a fruitful cooperation between the West and Russia. But we have to adapt to this new situation," he said.
The alliance will draw up new defense plans in response to "Russia's aggression" against Ukraine, Rasmussen warned.
"We will strengthen military exercises and prepare new defense plans," he said.
"I will encourage NATO countries to increase their defense investments,” Rasmussen added. “Over the past five years, Russia has increased its spending on defense by 50 per cent, and NATO countries have reduced theirs by an average of 20 per cent. We must reverse the trend."
02 August 2014
More body parts have been found at the Boeing crash site in Ukraine, Alexander Hug, Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine said.
"For the whole day, and this was the second day that the experts were on that site, they continued to collect body parts which they found today as well, which they took back to their logistical base in Kharkiv which then will be brought together and flown to the Netherlands to be identitified in a special centre."
Over 220 coffins have already been sent back to the Netherlands from Ukraine following the MH17 crash. Investigators also deployed two sniffer dogs from the Netherlands scout the crash site with two more are expected soon from Belgium.
"Dogs can smell a big area in a relatively short time so it will help us getting the human remains out as fast as possible," said Dennis Muller, a press officer for the Dutch investigators.
Meanwhile, the Australians have at least one propeller-driven drone on the ground in Ukraine but are still waiting for permission to deploy it, AAP reports
At least 78 international forensic experts from Australia and the Netherlands have arrived at the site of the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane in the Donetsk Region in eastern Ukraine, the OSCE mission in Ukraine said. The experts took dogs trained to search for bodies. They arrived at the area for the first time on July 31.
01 August 2014
International police investigators of the MH17 crash will not carry weapons for now, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced.
On Thursday, Ukraine's parliament ratified a deal with the Netherlands and Australia allowing them to send some 950 "armed personnel" to secure the crash site, AFP reports.
OSCE Special Monitoring Mission says that it “successfully visited” the crash site of MH17, 79 km east of Donetsk.
“The SMM observed no changes to the main site when compared to previous visits, reflected in the respective reports: for example, many personal belongings remained where SMM had last seen them. No security perimeter was in place at the scene,” the latest OSCE statement reads.
Convoy of SMMU + Dutch, Australian experts bolstered by arrival new assets/ additional personnel from Kharkiv #MH17pic.twitter.com/W5BZl3zNY0
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) August 1, 2014
The statement also highlights that; “This was a reconnaissance rather than a full investigative group.” The OSCE also added that on their way to the scene of the disaster, observers twice had to cross territories controlled by Ukrainian Government and DPR. “In both cases after local cease-fires between the Ukrainian army and armed separatists had been successfully negotiated,” the mission says.
Over 200 coffins were sent to the Netherlands, but many remains have not yet been recovered because of the fighting in Eastern Ukraine. “If they find human remains while searching, they will immediately be recovered,” Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the Dutch police official sent to Ukraine to head up the mission, told AFP.
Ukrainian sergeant shows roadside bomb defused outside Debaltsevo, 15km from #MH17 crash site. pic.twitter.com/6DYVojSUKR
— Simon Shuster (@shustry) August 1, 2014
Russian aviation agency Rosaviatsia has passed on its findings about the circumstances of the MH17 crash to the Dutch-led international expert commission.
“We have passed on the information requested earlier, which are necessary for an objective and comprehensive investigation,” said an official statement.
Among the data transferred is the flight map recorded by Russia’s air control center in the border region of Rostov, which was closest to the location of the crash.
International investigators have been studying the crash site for over a week, and have received access to the flight recorders recovered from the Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777.
The procedure for identifying the victims of flight MH17 could take up to two weeks, the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told the press in a statement, as reported by the New Straits Times. The PM called for a diligent and thorough approach to the process, as he spoke on a two-day visit to the Netherlands.
OSCE convoy w/largest-ever group Dutch/Australia experts reaches #MH17 site. 60+ experts, SMMU monitors. Recovery works starts immediately
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) August 1, 2014
The convoy of 14 cars with Australian and Dutch forensic experts, as well as the observers from the OSCE, is heading to the crash site of Malaysian Airlines plane in Donetsk Region, said a representative of OSCE mission, Michael Bochurkiv, on Twitter.
Our convoy of SMM monitors and Australian, Dutch experts making steady progress towards #MH17 crash site, using a new access route
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) July 31, 2014
The Malaysian government will declare a day of mourning when the first of the bodies of MH17 victims are delivered home, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, as he praised the Dutch government efforts to conduct a dignified ceremony to receive the victims' remains.
“We will declare the day as a day of mourning for the whole country and I'm hoping to be there to receive the Malaysian bodies when they arrive," Razak said.
Najib earlier met the Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and had expressed his sympathies and condolences to the Dutch people.
“I also wanted to make this visit to show our seriousness in finding out what really happened. We need to know the truth," he said.
31 July 2014
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said early on Friday morning that as many as 80 bodies are still at the MH17 crash site.
"The team that had gone in ... had been onto the site and had exited the site and, as I understand it, had recovered some more remains,” Abbott told reporters in Sydney on Friday. "(The team will) really substantially begin the thorough professional search of the site to ensure remains are recovered, the investigation is assisted and justice can be done," Mr Abbott said.
Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, the head of the Dutch repatriation mission of the victim's bodies, has announced that personal items of the victims are expected to be transferred on Friday from Donetsk to Kharkov, Belgian media reports.
Aalbersberg also said that in Kharkov researchers will conduct the first forensic checks adding that "Then we will ship these important matters to the Netherlands ASAP." He specified that it is the DNA material of 25 passengers.
Foreign ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organizations called for an open, fair and independent investigation into the MH17 incident, stressing the need to observe UN Security Council Resolution 2166 which calls for a ceasefire and protection of international investigators, Xinhua reports.
By August 2, the Ukrainian militia will hand over to international inspectors a train car with personal belongings of the crashed MH17 plane, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister, Vladimir Groysman has told a media briefing. The decision was made at the trilateral contact group meeting in the Belarus capital, Minsk.
Australia’s government has declared August 7 a day of national mourning for the victims of the Boeing MH17 crash. The Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that flags will fly at half-mast as a funeral service is held at Melbourne’s St Patrick Cathedral.
30 July 2014
Russia's permanent representative to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, expressed concern that the Kiev authorities are “motivated to destroy evidence implicating their role in the crash of a Malaysian airliner.”
According to him, the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko promised a cease-fire in the disaster area, "but this promise was immediately broken, and Ukrainian officials have publicly announced a new task - to cleanse the militias and to take control of this territory," Churkin said in New York, RIA Novosti reports.
Russia, the ambassador also said handed over its surveillance data of the disaster area of the Boeing 777 crash.
"We passed over the data of objective observation of the disaster area the international organizations, including the UN and the OSCE. We expect that others will act so concretely and constructively, instead of spreading unsubstantiated accusations and insinuations," said Russian diplomat.
Churkin said that Russia is “offering all kinds of assistance to the investigation", highlighting that Russian Civil Aviation Authorities (Rosaviaciya) “promptly formulated questions that need to be clarified to reveal the full picture of the tragedy."
Cases from the families of MH17 victims will not be tried by the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Dutch Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten said in a letter to parliament, Reuters reports.
The minister explained that cases can be filed with the world court only if countries involved are unable or unwilling to prosecute for the incident.
It is unlikely the countries involved "will not be able or willing to lead the investigation and prosecution," Opstelten wrote.
The Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte will meet with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Tun Razak, to "discuss the implications of the crash of the Boeing 777 in the Ukraine, which killed citizens of the Netherlands and Malaysia," the Dutch government reports, as cited by Itar-tass.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “is deeply disturbed” to learn that forensic teams and international investigators in Donetsk who are probing the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 “continue to be impeded from accessing the site” due to heavy fighting in the area, his press service said.
Ban has called on all parties “to immediately halt hostilities in the proximity of the crash site so as to allow the international teams unimpeded access to the site.”
#UNSG disturbed that forensic teams/investigators of MH17 downing in #Donetsk are impeded from accessing crash site http://t.co/BV3HWGPISs
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) July 30, 2014
Western demands that Russia ensure safe access for international experts to the MH17 crash site are “absurd,” said Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov.
Lavrov added that his only reaction to such calls is “to suggest that the UN Security Council adopt a resolution” inviting Russia to deploy its peacekeeping forces there, and to ensure security around the crash site, “if [the West] is sure that only Russia can do it.”
"Any absurdity should have its limits," Lavrov said.
Dutch experts trying to recover remains of the victims of the Malaysian plane crash in Ukraine were again unable to access the crash site on Wednesday due to fighting between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian forces, the head of the Dutch mission said.
"Today the convoy of Dutch experts will not travel to the crash site of MH17. The security situation is too unsafe," Pieter Jaap Aalbersberg, the Dutch team head, said in a statement.
Although most bodies have been recovered from the site of the July 17 disaster, which killed all 298 passengers and crew, the Dutch want to recover remains of some victims and personal belongings of the 195 Dutch nationals on board.
"We will continue to try to get to the area in coming days, but it remains to be seen whether the situation will become safer." (Reuters)
Moscow is puzzled at US President Barack Obama’s allegation that Russia is “not cooperating” with the international investigation into the Malaysian airliner crash, Foreign Ministry spokesman Aleksandr Lukashevich said.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Lukashevich reiterated that Russia was one of the first to release its military monitoring data concerning the MH17 crash, while the US has so far only come up with accusations unsupported by evidence.
“According to the existing international rules adopted by the ICAO [International Civil Aviation Organization], Russia, which is not a party involved in the accident, can’t just come out and say ‘Hi, we are beginning to take part in the investigation," Lukashevich said, explaining that the country had to wait for an invitation from the Dutch investigators.
Moscow received the invitation a few days ago and immediately appointed its representatives to the investigators’ team, Lukashevich added.
Russian aviation experts involved with international investigation into the causes of the Malaysian Boeing accident believe that the information obtained from the flight data recorders can only indirectly confirm the version of a missile strike. They argue that to get a complete account of the tragedy, experts need to reconstruct the layout of the plane from the collected wreckage pieces on the ground and comprehensively assess the damage suffered by the liner, Kommersant newspaper reports.
The Russian assessment follows Monday's announcement by the spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council, Andrey Lysenko, who said that MH17 flight recorder data showed that the plane was destroyed by shrapnel coming from a rocket blast and went down because of "massive explosive decompression."
Earlier, the Deputy Head of Russian Civil Aviation (Rosaviatsya), Oleg Storchevoy who is also heading the Russian group of experts said that such statements are inadmissible as they violate International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) principles.
Representatives from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held a press conference in Donetsk on Wednesday to explain why they turned back from their expedition to the MH17 crash site.
“We were not turned back by anyone, it was a decision taken because the security situation was not sufficient enough to proceed and it was our own decision to return," Alexander Hug, Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE mission said.
His colleague, Michael Bociurkiw noted that “the explosions that we heard when we decided to turn back were very very loud."
29 July 2014
Andrey Purgin, deputy prime-minister of the self-proclaimed DPR said that he was able to "confirm our readiness to provide security of the Dutch and Australian experts", meanwhile commenting that Kiev was "dragging out the start of negotiations".
At the same time, DPR leadership blamed Kiev for hindering the MH17 investigation process.
"Kiev is intentionally dragging out the start of negotiations and is consciously continuing combat actions. I would like to state it once again: the leadership of LPR and DPR is ready for negotiations. I also confirm our readiness to provide security of the Dutch and Australian experts,” Purgin said.
British PM David Cameron told the families of 10 British victims of flight MH17 the transcript of the black boxes will be made public next week, Ria Novosti reports. He said that the black boxes are now in Holland and that British experts are playing an active role in the investigation, as relatives attended an hour-long meeting at 10 Downing Street.
The leadership of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) has denied reports alleging the self-proclaimed authorities refuse to collaborate with the OSCE.
"The DPR has for a long time and effectively collaborated with the OSCE mission,” DPR said in a press release. “It is in this contact with the OSCE that [we] provided a number of conditions for the organization to investigate the disaster of the Malaysian Boeing.”
DPR also added the OSCE plays a crucial role in the informal consultations with the Kiev on the ceasefire.
The Ukrainian government hopes to be allowed to visit the Malaysian Airlines crash site in the next few days or hours, said the acting vice Prime Minister, Vladimir Groisman, who is leading a Ukrainian state commission to find out the causes of the plane crash.
“We have reason to believe that there are some bodies remaining, where the plane came down," he told journalists on Tuesday. He also added that a plan had been drawn-up, which would see the armed forces enter the territory where the MH17 plane was downed. “I hope in the next few hours or days there will be positive results,” Groisman said.
On Monday, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic stated that they are still looking for 16 bodies, which have not been recovered following the accident.
Australian and Dutch experts are still unable to get to the site of the downed Malaysian Airlines plane for the third day running, according to the Dutch Ministry for Security and Justice. “There is heavy fighting on the way to the crash site,” they commented. Unlike previous days, the delegation is not even trying to get to the place where the Boeing 777 was downed, which is around 70 kilometers from Donetsk.
Intensive planning underway for accessing the #MH17 site as soon as it is safe to do so. Updates will be posted here
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) July 29, 2014
The expert’s mission is to try and look for more bodies in territory, which is controlled by anti-government forces.
28 July 2014
Some of the remains of the 298 victims of downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 may never be recovered, Dutch police chief Gerard Bouman said in a briefing.
"I would love to give a guarantee that all the remains will come back, and all possessions, but...I believe the chances are not very good that we will get it all," Bouman said to parliament in The Hague, AFP reported.
"What we found in the body bags in Ukraine was indescribable. The contents were horrible - hardened people who work in this is are finding it hard to process. Bits and pieces all mixed, big and small, were found in the bags," he said.
The Ukrainian military’s attempt to take the site of the MH17 flight crash under their control will be a “direct breach” of UN Security Council Resolution 2166, Russia’s UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, said at a press-conference in New York.
The resolution requires that “all military activities, including by armed groups, be immediately ceased in the immediate area surrounding the crash site to allow for security and safety of the international investigation,” demanding that the armed groups “refrain from any actions that may compromise the integrity of the crash site… and immediately provide safe, secure, full and unrestricted access to the site and surrounding area for the appropriate investigating authorities.”
An international police has failed to reach the crash site of a Malaysian Airlines plane for the second day in a row, due to clashes in the vicinity.
A delegation of Australian and Dutch police and forensic experts stopped in the town of Shakhtarsk, which is 30 kilometers from the fields where the aircraft was downed.
Sounds of regular shelling could be heard from Shakhtarsk and residents were fleeing town in cars. AP reporters saw a high-rise apartment block in the town being hit by at least two rounds of artillery.
The mandate of the police team is to secure the currently anti-government forces controlled area so that comprehensive investigations can begin and any remaining bodies can be recovered.
The U.N.'s top human rights official says the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 may be a war crime.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay says a thorough investigation is needed into the violation of international law that occurred when the flight was shot down with a surface-to-air missile over a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by militia on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.
Pillay's comments coincided with a new report Monday by her office that says at least 1,129 people have been killed and 3,442 wounded in Ukraine's fighting as of Saturday, and more than 100,000 have fled the violence since April. (AP)
Our OSCE monitors preparing to deploy to #mh17 crash site w/Australian and Dutch experts. #australia#netherlandspic.twitter.com/28b3uB8H9P
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) July 28, 2014
A joint Australian-Dutch probe team will renew efforts on Monday to gain access to the crash site of a Malaysian airliner in eastern Ukraine, Australian Federal Police said, after fierce fighting kept them away the previous day.
Evidence could be lost if fighting continued, said Deputy Commissioner of National Security Andrew Colvin, and the chances of finding the remains of all 298 dead grew slimmer as time passed.
An assessment would be made early on Monday Ukraine time of whether it was safe for the 49-strong team to approach the site, Colvin told reporters.
"The fighting intensified overnight. Whether the intensification diminishes over coming days and creates a more permissive environment, it may be as early as today that we say that fighting has diminished enough to go back in."
Clashes overnight between Ukrainian troops and militia killed at least 13 people.
However, Colvin acknowledged that it could be some time before the team gained access to the crash site.
"There remains a possibility that we may not get there in the near future," he said. "I don't want to consider the fact that we may never get to that site." (Reuters)
27 July 2014
The data from a black box retrieved from the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine, show findings consistent with the plane's fuselage being hit multiple times by shrapnel from a missile explosion, a European air safety official told CBS News. He described the finding as "massive explosive decompression."
International experts abandoned their plans on Sunday to go to the site where a Malaysian airliner crashed because of fighting between rebels and Ukrainian troops in the area.
Alexander Hug, deputy head for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's monitoring mission in Ukraine, told reporters: "We heard indications there's fighting going on."
"The situation on the ground appears to be unsafe ... we therefore decided to deploy tomorrow morning," he said, flanked by Dutch and Australian experts. "Fighting in the area will most likely affect crash site." (Reuters)
Heavy shelling in Torez on the #MH17 site, people sheltering in basements
— Pierre Crom (@PierreCrom) July 27, 2014
Dutch military police forces in armored SUVs are traveling to the crash site of the Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine to secure the area, officials said.
Earlier, the Malaysian government said that it had reached an agreement with self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine to allow an international police force access to the site of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash, said the Malaysian PM’s office.
The Malaysian government has reached an agreement with self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine, to allow an international police force access to the site of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 crash, said the Malaysian PM’s office.
26 July 2014
Experts have identified the first body from the 298 victims of the Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed over Ukraine on July 17.
The body belongs to a Dutch citizen, the country’s Ministry of Justice said. The victim's identity and gender have not been disclosed.
A group of 200 experts are working on identifying the bodies, but warn that the process might take several months, according to the ministry.
The last 38 coffins carrying the remains of victims from downed Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 have arrived in the Netherlands from Kharkov, Ukraine.
This brings the total number of coffins delivered to Dutch authorities – who are leading the investigation – to 227.
The families of those on board the Malaysian plane were present at the airbase in Eindhoven and observed a moment of silence once the bodies arrived.
The coffins will now be sent to the Dutch military base at Hilversum for forensic investigation and Disaster Victim Identification (DVI).
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott discussed the need to ensure international recovery experts can work safely at the Malaysian airliner crash site in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
At least 27 Australians were on the plane from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur that was downed last week over part of Ukraine controlled by rebels. (Reuters)
The plane containing the last of the remains of the Boeing victims is on course for The Netherlands, according to reports from RIA Novosti. There is a total of 19 containers onboard the aircraft, authorities told the news agency.
The parents of 25-year old Fatima Dyczynski arrive at the MH17 crash site. The Perth-based family is the first one to visit the scene of the tragedy, NBC’s Keir Simmons reports on Vine.
25 July 2014
Our monitors at #MH17 crash site just now w/5 Australian, 4 Dutch experts. 5 armoured vehicles rigged 4 rough terrain pic.twitter.com/UIOYpiJZqY
— СММ ОБСЄ в Україні (@OSCE_SMM) July 25, 2014
Ukraine will hand over its own satellite images of the Donetsk region to Dutch investigators trying to establish the truth behind the apparent shooting-down of the Malaysian Airlines plane last week, President Petro Poroshenko’s website said.
“These images will help the experts identify the exact locations of the fragments of the plane, even those they have no access to, and prove whether any plane fragments were removed from the crash site by the terrorists,” the statement said in a reference to the armed militia controlling the crash site.
There is no evidence of tampering with MH17 flight recorders, investigators from the Interstate Aviation Committee reported.
The recorders have been handed over to Malaysian officials by Ukrainian militias and transported to the UK for transcribing.
“The study of the recorders revealed minor damage that didn’t affect the recordings. There was no signs of unsealing or unsanctioned access to the contents of the recorders,” said the committee, which is an international body tasked with investigating all civil aviation incidents in most of the former Soviet Union.
Both sound and parametric records have been successfully copied at the UK lab and are now being studied.
24 July 2014
"The international investigation team led by the Dutch Safety Board, continued the work on the Cockpit Voice Recorder and the Flight Data Recorder today," said a statement on the board's website.
"The Flight Data Recorder was slightly damaged but the memory module was intact. Furthermore, no evidence or indications of manipulation of the recorder was found," the statement added.
The Dutch Safety Board has granted permission for the wreckage of MH17 to be moved. The work itself will be undertaken by local authorities. The board explained that the decision was made to ensure the removal of remains from the wreckage as quickly as possible.
23 July 2014
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) said that the cockpit voice recorder from the Malaysia Airlines plane that crashed over Ukraine is in good condition. ICAO is still analyzing the flight data recorder, according to the statement.
Russia supports the transparent and unbiased international probe into the downing of the Malaysian jet over Ukraine, with the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) taking on a leading role in decoding the black boxes, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said after a meeting with the head of the EU Delegation to Russia, Vygaudas Usackas.
Karasin also brought attention to counter-productive measures of Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko to make out Ukraine’s southeast representatives as terrorists on the world stage.
"Actually, it would cross out all the efforts urging the both parts of the conflict to launch a constructive dialogue aiming at the settlement of the Ukrainian crisis," Itar-Tass quoted the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.
The leader of the militia Aleksandr Boroday, told the BBC in an interview for Newsnight that an international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) told them to leave the bodies to be collected by experts.
"So we wait a day. We wait a second day. A third day. Come on! Not a single expert. Well, to leave the bodies there any longer, in 30 degree heat, it's absurd. It's simply inhuman. It's a scene from a horror movie," he said.
The Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC), an organization overseeing civil aviation in Russia and a number of former Soviet republics, including Ukraine, has announced that its representative is on the team of international experts investigating MH17 crash. The team was created in compliance with the UN Security Council resolution, passed on Monday, and will try to decipher the data from the plane’s flight recorders.
Two aircraft carrying the remains of some of the 298 passengers who died on flight MH17 in eastern Ukraine have touched down in the Netherlands.
The planes landed in the city of Eindhoven, with relatives of the deceased and Dutch and foreign officials looking on.
RT @anaghz: The first plane with the rest of the bodies has arrived to Eindhoven @Ruptly#MH17pic.twitter.com/iXjiEhc78K
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) July 23, 2014
The bodies of the victims, from the downed Malaysian Airlines flight, will be brought to a military base in Hilversum in the Netherlands. 193 of the passengers who died were Dutch.
Experts will work to put names to the bodies, a process that could take months.
Since March, 432 people have been killed in the Donetsk region, 36 of them women and 6 children, the local health department has said. Over 1,000 people have been wounded.
On Tuesday alone, seven people were injured in Donetsk and four in the town of Gorlovka.
A Dutch air force transport plane carrying the first 16 coffins with the remains of victims of the downed Malaysian airliner took off on Wednesday from an airport in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv for the Netherlands.
Honorary guards placed wooden coffins on the plane after a short and sombre ceremony held on the tarmac before it took off.
All 298 people on board the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 perished when it was brought down last Thursday over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine, where Kiev is struggling anti-government forces.
Many of the victims were Dutch and the Netherlands will carry out their identification.
At the ceremony, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said the downing of the plane was an "inhumane terrorist act" carried out with help from Russia.
Kiev will do everything in its power to bring those guilty to justice, he added. Russia denies its involvement.
On Monday the Russian military presented information that a Ukrainian SU-25 fighter had been gaining altitude in the direction of the Malaysian Boeing prior to the catastrophe.
A Canadian military transport plane is due to leave Kharkiv with 24 more coffins later on Wednesday.
The black boxes from Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 have been handed over to British experts, UK investigators have told press.
Eindhoven airport awaits arrival of #MH17 crash bodies http://t.co/6ZtzyL1ShS
— Ruptly (@Ruptly) July 23, 2014
The inflight recorders recovered from the wreckage of the downed Malaysian plane have arrived in Britain to be analyzed, the Ukrainian government’s investigation committee told press. The Ukrainian investigators confirmed they had seen the recorders, but not handled them as per an agreement reached with the Malaysian and Dutch inspectors.
"Today ... the black boxes from the airliner Boeing 777 arrived in Britain under the supervision of ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization)," the commission said on its Facebook page.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Wednesday that it was still unclear how many bodies from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 had arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and how many may have been left behind at the crash site. (Reuters)
Dutch experts have said they were given 80 fewer corpses than indicated by the eastern Ukrainian militia.
"There were human remains that had not been picked up," said Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE after visiting the crash site.
"What struck us is that we did not monitor any recovery activity in place," he added, indicating at least two areas where there still were human remains.
Moscow has handed over to the European Union the Ministry of Defense’s monitoring data on the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine, Russian envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said.
The documents, which are in both Russian and English, were sent “to all the interested parties,” he told journalists in Brussels, as quoted by RIA Novosti. Russia hopes the investigation of the tragedy will be “truly unbiased, independent and international,” as called for by the UN Security Council resolution unanimously adopted Monday, Chizhov said.
“I’m surprised by statements made by certain European representatives,” he said. Even European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso – who is on a visit in Brazil – “voiced certainty that the plane, as he said, was shot down by 'separatists.'”According to the Russian diplomat, attempts to foresee the results of an investigation “can only be considered as an attempt to put pressure on the probe.”
“I hope that will not happen,” Chizhov said.
22 July 2014
The Dutch government has declared Wednesday a day of national mourning as the country prepares for the arrival of the first bodies of victims of the downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.
The country's king and queen will be at an air base in Eindhoven to greet two military planes that are scheduled to arrive around 4 p.m. (1400 GMT) Wednesday carrying the first victims' remains.
There are still human remains on the site where a Malaysian passenger plane hit the ground in eastern Ukraine after being downed, a representative of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) watchdog said on Tuesday.
"We observed the presence of smaller body parts at the site," an OSCE spokesman, Michael Bociurkiw, told a briefing in Donetsk after his group inspected the site earlier in the day.
He said all recovery efforts seem to have ended but that at the site his group saw a plastic bag with some human remains left behind while Malaysian experts noticed a strong smell indicating the likely presence of more remains in another spot.
The international police agency Interpol said on Tuesday that one of its teams had started the processes of identifying victims of Malaysian Airlines MH17 that crashed over Ukraine last week. The France based agency said that once the preliminary examinations are completed in the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, the victims will be transported to the Netherlands where a fuller identification will be carried out.
Britain has agreed to a Dutch request for air accident investigators to retrieve data from the black boxes of the Malaysia Airlines plane, which was downed over Ukraine, Prime Minister David Cameron said on Tuesday. The two boxes may shed some light on Western claims that flight MH17 was shot down with a Russian surface-to-air missile that was fired by self-defense forces.
"We've agreed Dutch request for air accident investigators at Farnborough to retrieve data from MH17 black boxes for international analysis," Cameron said on Twitter.
The first plane carrying the bodies of victims of the Malaysian Airlines Boeing 777 crash in Ukraine will arrive in the Netherlands on Wednesday, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte announced.
“Tomorrow the first plane will leave for Eindhoven,” Rutte told journalists. “As soon as some victims are ready to be transported, the plane will leave,” the PM said, as cited by the AFP.
For autopsy and other investigative procedures, the bodies will be taken to the Kaporaal van Oudheusden military barracks in Hilversum, some 100 kilometers from Eindhoven airport.
The Dutch PM confirmed that the bodies of all the victims would be brought to the Netherlands to be later flown on to their respective countries.
Rutte stressed that identification of the bodies “could take weeks or months,” and that only families of the deceased will be informed of the results.
The Netherlands will conduct a thorough investigation of the crash, promised Rutte.
“We will turn over every last stone, and I can tell you that the Netherlands has, at Ukraine's request, been given the lead role in the investigation,” he said.
Train with bodies of Malaysian Airlines jet crash victims arrive in Ukraine's Kharkiv.
Malaysia said on Tuesday it will keep hold of the black boxes voice and data recorders from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 until an international team is formed and will then hand them over.
"The Malaysian team has taken custody of the black boxes, which appear to be in good condition. They will be held securely in Malaysian custody while the international investigation team is being formalised," Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a statement.
"At that time, we will pass the black boxes to the international investigation team for further analysis." (Reuters)
Experts from Malaysia have not found any traces of a possible external action against flight recorders of the Boeing-777 that crashed last week in eastern Ukraine, RIA Novosti said.
One expert was quoted by Ukrainian television as saying that there was a little damage to the black boxes, but it was not an external action.
Self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine handed over two flight recorders of the crashed plane to representatives of the Malaysian government.
The refrigerator train carrying the bodies of victims of the Malaysian Boeing 777 crash has arrived in the city of Kharkov in eastern Ukraine. The train is destined for the Malyshev Factory, a state-owned manufacturer of heavy equipment. All investigations will take place in the government-controlled city of Kharkov, after which the bodies will be handed over to the relatives of the victims.
The refrigerator train with the bodies of the Malaysia MH17 plane crash victims is set to arrive in Kharkov at 10.00 GMT, the Dutch premier stated, as quoted by Reuters.
The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN, however, reported that the arrival time is 8.30-9.00 GMT, citing a law enforcement source.
The bodies are to be delivered to a factory in Kharkov that has a separate railway line.
Malaysian authorities are planning to transfer the black boxes from the downed plane in the near future, according to New Straits Times.
US President Barack Obama and Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski have discussed on the phone the need for increased defense spending in Europe and for transatlantic unity after the MH17 crash, the White House said, as cited by Reuters.
The two leaders also agreed on “the importance of alliance-wide and credible contributions to NATO's reassurance efforts in Central and Eastern Europe.”
Obama and Komorowski “stressed the need for Transatlantic solidarity in responding to the tragic shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and Russia's efforts to destabilize Ukraine”.
Accident investigation experts from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) arrived in Ukraine over the weekend to begin assisting their Ukrainian counterparts with the official investigation into the loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, the organization reported. It did not clarify how many experts are in the team.
21 July 2014
The Ukrainian militia have handed over to Malaysian experts the black boxes from the crashed Boeing-777 airliner.
Black boxes of #MH17. pic.twitter.com/SzOgEs2FC7
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) July 21, 2014
Russia welcomes the Netherlands’ decision to take on the leading role in the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash and is hoping for objectivity, Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, told reporters on Monday.
The Netherlands has agreed to take the lead role in the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines plane, the country’s Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said at the UN Security Council meeting, reports Itar-Tass. Dutch investigators will work in close cooperation with other countries, the UN, and ICAO.
The United Nations Security Council unanimously approved a resolution, introduced by Australia, demanding international access to the eastern Ukraine crash site of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.
Russia did not move to block UNSC Resolution 2166.
"We have been engaged very actively today with the Australian delegation. The Security Council has already pronounced itself in its press statement on the 18th, it said it must be impartial international investigation. That's what we are looking for in the resolution, if this is impartial, international investigation, of course we are going to support it,” Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin told reporters before the vote.
The full draft resolution condemned the disaster, called for immediate access to the crash site and demanded an independent investigation.
A train carrying victims from the site where a Malaysian airliner crashed has set off from the town of Torez in eastern Ukraine, a Reuters witness said on Monday.
Earlier, Ukraine's deputy prime minister said the train would travel to the eastern city of Kharkov before the bodies would be taken to the Netherlands.
A truce in the 40 km radius zone around the Malaysian Boeing crash site has been agreed with Donetsk self-defense forces, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said.
Dutch forensic team inspecting rail car filled with #MH17 bodies. CBC pic.twitter.com/0lfDwrC9WE
— Jerry Liet (@jerryliet) July 21, 2014
In a harshly worded statement, US President Barack Obama accused rebels in eastern Ukraine of tampering with evidence at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. He called on Russia to influence separatists in that area to allow the investigation into the shooting down of the Boeing 777. He also stressed the need for accountability for those responsible for launching the surface-to-air missile that brought the plane down.
“Our immediate focus is on recovering those who were lost, investigating what happened, and putting forward facts,” Obama said from the White House South Lawn. “International teams are already in place, prepared to investigate. But the Russian-backed separatists who control the area continue to block their access.”
“As investigators approached the area, the rebels fired rifles into the area,” Obama added, asking, “What are they trying to hide?”
The president lambasted the rebels for moving the bodies from the crash site “without the care we would normally expect,” saying it is “an insult to those who have lost loved ones.”
He also called on Russia, and President Vladimir Putin in particular, to direct those responsible for blocking the investigation to cooperate with the international investigators because “it is the least they can do.”
Obama commended Putin for calling for cooperation, but said that the Russian president’s words are not supported by his actions.
The recovery crew has finished its search for bodies at the site of MH17 crash, Kiev said. A total of 282 pf bodies has been found. They are expected to be taken to the eastern city of Kharkov at 7pm local time.
Satellite image of #MH17 crash site -- from Airbus Defense & Space #CNNpic.twitter.com/mYYOylupAw
— Jason Morrell (@CNNJason) July 21, 2014
Dutch prosecutors have opened an investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH-17, in which all 298 passengers died, on suspicion of murder, war crimes and intentionally downing an airliner, a spokesman said on Monday.
Based on the Law on International Crimes, the Netherlands can prosecute any individual who committed a war crime against a Dutch citizen. As part of the investigation, a Dutch public prosecutor is conducting an investigation in Ukraine, a spokesman said. (Reuters)
Ukrainian President Poroshenko has spoken in favor of inviting Russian experts to participate in the Malaysian Airlines plane crash investigation.
“As the Ukrainian president, I first of all invited the representatives of the countries who suffered – the Netherlands, Malaysia, Germany, the UK, Australia, the US – and also ordered to invite a Russian representative in order to make it as transparent as possible,” Poroshenko stated.
The investigation into the Malaysia plane crash is to be conducted in the Netherlands, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko declared.
The president underlined that Ukraine and the Netherlands have “agreed to coordinate the actions not only in transferring the bodies home, not only in the investigation into the causes of the crash, but also to coordinate the actions, so that organizers and the contractors of the terrible crime are held responsible and meet with their deserved punishment.”
Some 282 bodies of Malaysia plane crash victims have been recovered from the disaster site, authorities of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic stated.
“Bodies have been collected from the crash site in a maximum correct way possible, and have been loaded into five refrigerated carriages which are now at the Torez train station. They aren’t going anywhere yet. We can only send them somewhere accompanied by experts,” the self-proclaimed republic’s premier Aleksandr Boroday told journalists.
Dutch expert Peter Van Vilet - train with bodies of #MH17 victims will be transported to unknown location. pic.twitter.com/aAXcYcjTLC
— Roman Kosarev (@ReportnRoman) July 21, 2014
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has told journalists at a press conference in Kiev he has ordered troops to stop all military actions within a radius of 40km from the site of the Malaysian Boeing crash.
Poroshenko also said he’s invited Russian experts to take part in investigating the plane crash.
“As Ukrainian president I immediately invited representatives of the countries which lost their citizens in the crash, first of all – representatives of the Netherlands, Malaysia, Germany, Great Britain, Australia and the US – and I gave an order to invite a Russian representative, so that [the investigation] could be conducted in the most transparent way,” Poroshenko said, as cited by ITAR-TASS.
The full-scale investigation into the causes of the MH17 plane crash is complicated by the lack of agreement between the sides of the Ukrainian conflict on the safety guarantees for foreign specialists who are still in Kiev and Kharkov, according to the latest Russian Foreign Ministry statement.
The Dutch team of experts has arrived to the refrigerator train with the remains of the crash victims.
#OSCE, Dutch forensic expert Peter Van Vilet - bodies of #MH17 victims stored in suitable environment in Torez pic.twitter.com/Iya29MLNZ2
— Roman Kosarev (@ReportnRoman) July 21, 2014
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the country’s authorities would prefer to bring MH17 crash bodies back to the Netherlands for identification purposes, Reuters reports. Rutte also says it remains unclear where the black boxes are, adding that he agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin that the boxes must go to the International Civil Aviation Organization for analysis.
A group of forensic experts from the Netherlands has arrived at the train station in the Ukrainian town of Torez to examine the bodies of those killed in the MH17 plane crash, a RIA Novosti correspondent on the ground reports.
So far 272 dead bodies have been recovered at the site of the Malaysian Boeing crash, 251 are currently in refrigerated train cars at Torez Station in eastern Ukraine, says Ukrainian PM Arseny Yatsenyuk, as cited by RIA Novosti.
Yatsenyuk has said Kiev is ready to hand control of the investigation over to Western partners, possibly led by experts from the Netherlands. The prime minister added Kiev was ready to transport the dead bodies to Amsterdam.
A second refrigerator train has arrived in Torez, Interfax reported, citing the Ukrainian state commission responsible for the plane crash investigation.
So far, 251 bodies of victims have been found, Reuters reported.
UK broadcaster Sky News has issued an apology after one of its presenters was filmed rummaging through the luggage surrounding the downed MH17. During a broadcast, presenter Colin Brazier searched through personal belongings and picked up a set of keys before saying: “We shouldn’t really be doing this.”
The move triggered massive backlash on social media as people called for Brazier to be sacked.
"Colin immediately recognized that this was inappropriate and said so on air. Both Colin and Sky News apologize profusely for any offence caused,” a spokesperson from Sky News said in a statement.
Russia has introduced its own draft resolution to the UN Security Council calling for an impartial investigation of Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in Ukraine, Russia’s ambassador to UN Vitaly Churkin said.
‘Yes, we did it,” Churkin told reported answering the question about Russia’s draft. “Just to show what we are talking about. The difference is that in our draft it is absolutely clear it is indeed an impartial international investigation under the under the guidance of ICAO.”
Churkin said Russia is ready to support any resolution that would have the same ultimate goal. “If it is about an international impartial probe – yes, of course, we will support [the resolution].”
The Australian Government is considering designating MH17 disaster as a terrorist act, so that families of the victims would be eligible to receive up to $75,000 compensation, ABC Australia has learned.
In connection with the Malaysian Airlines tragedy in Ukraine, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held telephone talks with seven world leaders on Sunday,
Merkel called Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, the Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of Finland Alexander Stubb and President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, her office said in a statement.
All participants in conversations "were unanimous in their view that immediate unhindered access to the crash site should be provided to international independent commission."
20 July 2014
French President Francois Hollande in a telephone call to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin urged him to influence anti-Kiev forces to hand over the "black boxes" to "competent authorities", RIA Novosti reports citing a statement from the Elysee Palace.
The Kremlin said that Putin highlighted the need for a “comprehensive and objective international investigation” into the circumstances surrounding the crash.
Russian President Vladimir Putin informed the prime minister of Australia, Tony Abbott of the steps Russia is taking to support the international investigation of the MH17 crash, and the help it is willing to offer to the international investigation team of the ICAO.
The Russian leader expressed his sincerest condolences to families of the Australian victims. Both sides agreed on the need to conduct a fair investigation and “to avoid politicized statements in connection with the tragedy,” the Kremlin said.
“Leaders of the two countries agreed on cooperation between the foreign ministries in international organizations, including the UN, in order to create the necessary conditions for the ICAO international experts, including in the security plan their activities at the crash site in Ukraine,” the statement says.
Search teams have found the bodies of 247 of the 298 passengers killed in Boeing plane crash, Donetsk People’s Republic authorities report.
“All the bodies are now in refrigerators at a railway station in Tores and will remain there until the Ministry of Emergencies and international experts make a decision about moving them,” DPR's Sergey Kavtaradze told the Russian news service, adding that they are contemplating moving the remains to the city of Mariupol.
He also assured that that DNR is providing proper access and security to the OSCE members and four Ukrainian experts, who work at the crash site, and are willing to help the international aviation experts in every way possible. He said the international delegation is yet to reach the crash site.
“We will meet the experts and provide them with the maximum safety and access to the entire disaster area,” said Kavtaradze, Itar-Tass reports.
In a telephone conversation between Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte both sides “stressed the need to promptly provide access to the accident site to the ICAO international experts to conduct an independent and objective investigation,” the Kremilin said in a statement.
Both politicians have also called to end the hostilities in eastern Ukraine, especially the crash area.
The OSCE has no information about the location of the MH17's flight data recording boxes, also known as black boxes, spokesperson for the OSCE Michael Bociurkiw said, as he confirmed that their 'monitoring mission to Ukraine' is more than happy to provide help in the transfer of the black boxes.
"So we have not seen the black boxes, in the past two or three days we had enquired about them but we did not receive any answers at the actual site. We have said, as we have been saying for quite some time, that if there is a role that we can play in dialogue facilitation, or perhaps facilitation of that transfer, then we would be in a position to do so,” Bociurkiw said.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin said it is important to refrain from making any hasty conclusions and politicized statements before the end of the investigation of the Malaysian Airlines plane crash.
“The prime cause of this tragedy is the armed confrontation in Ukraine, including in the region of the plane crash,” he said in a phone conversation with British Prime Minister David Cameron, according to the Kremlin press-service.
Russia is ready to provide necessary assistance in organizing and carrying out a thorough international inquiry led by ICAO, Putin said.
The Dutch Prime Minster, Mark Rutte, has said that world leaders have agreed that the Netherlands will coordinate victim identification efforts of the bodies killed when the Malaysian airlines jet was blasted out of the sky by a missile.
Another 27 bodies of passengers have been found, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Groysman said. A total 223 bodies have so far been recovered.
Britain will on Tuesday seek to persuade other European leaders to impose further sanctions on Russia over the downing of a Malaysian jet carrying 298 passengers, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Sunday.
“We will ... seek to get our European partners to agree to go further in terms of sanctions if Russia hasn't radically changed its position by then,” Hammond told the BBC ahead of a meeting of the European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council on Tuesday. (Reuters)
Five refrigerated train carriages with bodies of those killed in the MH17 plane crash have departed from the town of Torez, near the crash site, to the town of Ilovaysk and will next go to Donetsk, according to RIA Novosti citing the local station operator.
Before being sent away, the carriages were reportedly examined by the OSCE observers, who said there were 198 bodies inside.
Train wagons where the #MH17 bodies are being held. OSCE investigating. Heavy duty Berkut guarding. pic.twitter.com/D9ViwWK1d0
— max seddon (@maxseddon) July 20, 2014
Ukrainian authorities have agreed with the representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on the removal of bodies from the plane crash site, according to Ukrainian Deputy-Premier Vladimir Groisman.
“A preliminary agreement with those who are in control of the plane crash site has been reached,” Groisman said, according to Ukrainian government’s official website.
The bodies are supposed to be carried out from the site in refrigerated train carriages by Ukrainian experts accompanied by OSCE observers.
The government of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) guarantees the security of international experts at the site of the MH17 plane crash if the Ukrainian authorities agree to ceasefire, according to statement by DPR’s deputy PM, Andrey Purgin.
"We declare that we guarantee security of international experts at the site of the tragedy if Kiev agrees to a ceasefire,” the statement reads as cited by RIA Novosti. “We call on Kiev to immediately sign this agreement with DPR at least for the period of time while experts are going to work at the site of the plane crash.”
A memorial service has been held at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, Australia for the 298 victims of the MH17 air disaster.
The number of Australians killed in the crash rose from 28 to at least 36 on Sunday as the names of eight people from overseas who had chosen to make Australia their home were added, Associated Press reports.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who attended the ceremony, described the crash site in the territory controlled by anti-Kiev forces as "absolutely chaotic" and said that reports of militia on the ground interfering with the evidence were "outrageous."
He also said Russia could have a hand in the tragedy, while expressing skepticism over Moscow’s willingness to co-operate with an international investigation of the plane crash.
"Russian-controlled territory, Russian-backed rebels, quite likely a Russian-supplied weapon - Russia can't wash its hands of this," Abbott said.
Dutch 29-year-old cyclist Maarten de Jonge, has cheated death twice having been scheduled to fly in the last two Malaysian Airlines disasters.
De Jonge was scheduled to fly aboard Flight MH370 that went missing in March and Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, which was downed on Thursday before changing his travel arrangements both times at the last minute.
The cyclist plans to travel to Malaysia this Sunday and has no concerns for his safety.
"I have been lucky twice, that's the third time as well," de Jonge reportedly said, The Daily Mail reports. The Dutchman is part of the Terengganu Cycling Team based in Malaysia.
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said the plane crash site is "absolutely chaotic", claiming that such an environment hinders the investigation efforts.
"The difficulty is that site is chaotic, it's absolutely chaotic," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. "The kinds of things that would normally be happening in an air crash site are not happening."
"This just makes it absolutely imperative, imperative, that Australia do everything we can to recover the bodies, to ensure that the site is secured, a proper investigation is done, and then justice is secured."
Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak said that flight MH17 black boxes are a property of Malaysia. "Those who have no rights whatsoever cannot claim or take control of the black boxes," he said.
19 July 2014
A team of at least 10 investigators, including forensic experts and air accident investigators are in Ukraine to investigate the crash site, the Dutch Foreign Ministry said in a written statement, Washington Post reports. The statement didn’t say whether the team was joined by investigators from other countries.
Condolences at the site of the left-over debris from the MH17 airplane are seen with bouquets of flowers on the ground in a field near Grabovo.
Michael Bociurkiw, spokesperson for the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine said that 16 members of the monitoring team spent 3 hours at the crash site on Saturday,
"We had a team today of sixteen international monitors who went to one of the crash scenes. We arrived at about 12:30 and we were there until about 3:20, so obviously the time spent there today was longer than yesterday. And in addition, we were able to traverse a far larger area than yesterday,” Bociurkiw told reporters.
At the same time, the OSCE spokesperson said that there is little security on site.
"But again we did see a larger area. Although there is very little, as we've reported there is very little security on the perimeter of the crash site we did notice that when we arrived today there was a cordon of armed security personnel on both sides of the roadway.”
Leadership of the Donetsk's Republic guarantees the safety of international experts at the Boeing crash site, if Kiev authorities conclude a ceasefire agreement, Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Purgin of DPR has announced.
"We declare that we will guarantee the safety of international experts on the scene at the conclusion of a ceasefire agreement with Kiev. We invite Kiev to immediately conclude such an agreement with the DPR, at least for the duration of the specialists' visit to the crash site," Purgin said, Ria Novosti reports.
Kiev's forces continue their so-called “anti-terrorist operation", hindering access to the crash site, he said. Purgin claims that Ukrainian forces are keeping up the pace of the assault to ensure evidence doesn’t emerge to implicate Kiev in shooting down the passenger jet. Purgin once again reiterated that anti-Kiev forces had nothing to do with shooting down the plane.
In a telephone conversation between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his US counterpart John Kerry, both sides agreed on the need to conduct an independent investigation into the crash of flight MH17.
“It is necessary to provide a totally impartial, independent and open international investigation into the disaster of Malaysian airliner crash in Ukraine on July 17. Clarification of the circumstances of this incident should be organized under the leadership of ICAO and with the participation of all who are willing to help in establishing the truth,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said.
Kerry meanwhile told Lavrov that the US was "very concerned" over reports that the crash site has been tampered with, the US State Department said in a statement.
So far 192 bodies have been recovered from the crash site of Malaysian Arline flight MH17, UNIAN reports citing authorities.
"So far we have recovered 192 bodies. The search area has been expanded to 35 kilometers with 200 Emergency Ministry workers participating,” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vladimir Groisman, was quoted by UNIAN, the Ukrainian news agency.
Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Alexander Boroday denied that his forces have the advanced weaponry required to have shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17.
"The plane was shot down. We had neither the capability nor any intent to shoot it down. We don't have any air defense systems capable of taking down an aircraft flying at the 10,600 metres altitude. The projectiles we possess can only travel up to 3000 metres,” Boroday said.
Boroday argued the action is against the interests of the DPR/DNR, before accusing Kiev forces of carrying out the crime. He said investigations into the tragedy are currently being sabotaged, also leveling blame at Ukraine's government.
"In our opinion this investigation is being in some ways sabotaged. It is possible that this is happening because Ukraine and the Ukrainian authorities are not interested in the investigation," he said.
Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko was summoned to the Foreign Office to meet Political Director Simon Gass.
“The Political Director urged the Russian authorities to use all their influence to secure access to the crash site, both for accident investigators and expert victim identification teams,” UK Foreign Ministry says.
So far 192 bodies have been recovered from the crash site of Malaysian Airline flight MH17, UNIAN reports citing authorities.
"So far we have recovered 192 bodies. The search area expanded to 35 kilometer with 200 Emergency Ministry workers participating in the search,” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Vladimir Groisman, was quoted by UNIAN, the Ukrainian news agency.
People continue to flock outside of Schipol airport, to pay their condolences to the 298 passengers and crew who died in the MH17 Malaysian airlines plane crash. As flowers lay outside the Dutch capital's main airport, dedicated to the airplane crash victims, condolences were made in ink as people signed a book which has been left open for anyone to sign their commiserations in.
Commercial director of Malaysian airlines Hugh Dunleavy said that the relatives of the MH17 victims should not travel to Ukraine due to security reasons, adding that only a few relatives "expressed interest in flying to Ukraine".
The commercial director said that Malaysian airlines is working with Ukrainian authorities "to gain access to the site," Dunleavy said speaking outside Schiphol airport in Amsterdam.
He also recognized that no one knows when the bodies are going to be recovered since they will be part of a criminal investigation once removed from the crash scene. Dunleavy also assured that the Malaysian Airlines flight path was considered safe for airline operation.
As of 19 July 2014, 5:00pm, the table below shows the latest number of passengers and their nationalities:
The investigation of the MH17 crash should be carried out by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and the Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed in a phone conversation, according to the Kremlin’s press-service.
It said that the leaders stressed the need to carry out an international, open, independent and objective investigation of the causes.
Putin and Rutte also urged for everything possible to be done to facilitate the work of OSCE observers and access of international experts to the site.
Ukraine’s Emergency service has started to load bodies of MH17 victims onto trucks and transport them from the site of the crash.
грузят тела pic.twitter.com/vdQZSKu8dt
— ilya (31+) (@vasyunin) July 19, 2014
Pilots and cabin crew of Dutch Airline KLM laid flowers at the MH17 memorial at Schiphol International Airport in Amsterdam, Saturday. Commercial Director of Malaysian Airlines Hugh Dunleavy also paid his respects to the victims of the tragedy.
The Netherlands is "angry, furious" by news that bodies were being dragged around the site where a Malaysian airliner crashed in eastern Ukraine, Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans said.
"We are already shocked by the news we got today of bodies being dragged around, of the site not being treated properly... People are angry, furious," he said meeting Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko.
"Once we have the proof, we will not stop before the people are brought to justice. Not just the people who pulled the trigger but also those who made it possible. I think the international community needs to step up its efforts in this respect," he added.
Mourners from around the globe leave flowers, candles and stuffed animals for the victims of the MH17 crash in Ukraine. In Amsterdam's airport where the plane took off, to the small flower shop that two of the victims owned, people pay their respects to those who died.
The belongings of the passengers of the MH17 flight have been safely preserved, a the spokesman of the special mission of the OSCE in Ukraine, Michael Bochurkiv, said Saturday as quoted by RIA Novosti.
He said that no distortion by the militia in the region has been noted, adding that many plane fragments at the scene had not been moved. The fragments were seen dispersed on the territory of about 30km as the scene also contained many personal belonging of the passengers.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed to an international probe into the crash of Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said Merkel's deputy spokesman, Georg Streiter.
"Both [Putin and Merkel] agreed that an international, independent commission under the leadership of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) should get quick access to the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines passenger plane in east Ukraine," he added.
The Chancellor also "commended the Russian Federation's willingness to send a representative to participate in the investigation," the Kremlin said in a statement.
Vigil outside Dutch embassy for victims of downed flight #MH17. #cbcott#ottnewspic.twitter.com/3WyxI1tQE9
— Kamil Karamali (@CBCKamil) July 19, 2014
Before the probe into the crash of the Malaysian plane commenced, several countries jumped to make statements of the true causes of the tragedy without proof, said the official statement of the Russian Foreign Ministry. By doing this, these countries are compromising the course of the investigation, it added.
“The Russian side was the first to call for independent, open and objective investigation of the reasons of the accident… It should be made with the assistance of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and other international groups…” said the statement.
The ministry stressed that “only this form of investigation will provide a truly independent investigation, avoid one-sided assessments and reveal the real reasons of the incident.”
The forensic experts from Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) and Europol (European Police Office) are heading on Sunday to Ukraine’s capital, Kiev, to assist in identifying the victims of the Malaysian plane crash.
Donetsk self-defense forces have denied the claims that they have taken the bodies of 36 passengers of Malaysian plane.
“Why do we need them? On the contrary, we want the experts to arrive and to take them,” the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) official told RIA Novosti.
Earlier there were unconfirmed reports by Ukrainian media that anti-government troops have removed the bodies.
“The representatives of People’s Republic of Donetsk arrived at the village of Rassypnoe and removed 36 bodies of the plane crash,” it said, “according to the militants, they want to take the bodies to [the city of] Donetsk,” the city administration told UNIAN news agency.
Ukraine’s Emergency Ministry has recovered 186 bodies of the passengers from the crashed Malaysian plane so far, said the country’s Security Council. It added that the ministry has explored at least 18sq km of total 25sq km crash site of the jet.
Malaysian transport minister: Russia did promise to do its best to assist Malaysia in investigation of the #MH17
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) July 19, 2014
Malaysia is planning to get the black boxes from the crash area of the downed plane, said Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai.
“We are planning to get then [black boxes], and the group of experts has headed to Ukraine. And that’s why I am flying to Kiev,” he added.
It would be “inhuman” if “we are not allowed” to the site of Malaysian plane crash in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai. He added that Malaysian authorities “are concerned” over the security zone of the area as evidence hasn’t been secured.
Malaysian transport minister: there is no confirmation on who has flight recorders from #MH17
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) July 19, 2014
The Malaysian transport minister says MH17’s flight path is a busy, major “highway in the sky”. Around 75 airlines flew through the same path just two days before the tragedy, while a Singapore Airlines plane passed the same route just minutes earlier than MH17. The route is coordinated by all air control bodies, he insisted.
Minister Liow Tiong Lai told a press conference the flight never strayed into the restricted air space. The plane appears to have been shot down, he added.
Liow repeated that the plane was supposed to fly at 35,000 feet, but was told by the air traffic control tower to fly at 33,000.
Malaysian transport minister: we must ensure that investigation of #MH17 is not hampered by political processes
— Alexey Yaroshevsky (@Yaro_RT) July 19, 2014
Ukraine’s forensic experts have started their investigation at the site of the crashed Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, reports RIA Novosti. They are now inspecting the area.
War planes have been flying over the crash site Malaysian plane and the near-by cities of Torez and Snezhnoe in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, a correspondent for RIA Novosti reported from the scene. The report suggested that the planes may be military transports and that the traffic may be related to a nearby combat zone, where Ukrainian troops use aviation against local militia.
Kiev authorities and self-defense forces have agreed on a 20 sq km safety zone around the crash site of the Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said the head of the country’s Security Service, Valentin Nalivaichenko.
“Trilateral talks ended on the agreement on 20 sq km zone so that Ukraine can perform its humanitarian mission, take the bodies and transfer them to the relatives [of the victims],” he said adding that the representatives from Russia are also among the officials in the trilateral group.
However, the international observers said the self-defense troops and international observers contradicted Nalivaichenko’s words, saying an agreement is yet to be reached, Reuters reported.
A spokesman for the OSCE mission in Ukraine, Michael Bociurkiw, said he was not aware of any agreement yet, but this was "definitely one of the top issues."
Six delegates to a global AIDS summit due to be opened on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia, have been confirmed dead in the Malaysia Airlines disaster in Ukraine. Earlier Friday reports said that more than 100 people heading for the conference were among Boeing 777 passengers.
"The number that we have confirmed through our contacts with authorities in Australia, in Malaysia, and Dutch authorities as well, is six people. It may be a little bit more, but not the numbers that have been announced," said International AIDS Society president Francoise Barre-Sinoussi.
Among the attendees flying on Malaysian plane was Joep Lange from the Netherlands, a pioneer of cheap anti-retrovirals for the poor.
Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai will arrive in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, on Saturday to check if the forensic teams have access to investigate the area of the crashed plane.
"We will want to ensure a safe corridor to the site," Liow told reporters. "... we sent a team to Kiev yesterday night. I will be leaving for Kiev tonight to ensure we have access to the site."
The Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) will send two C-130 Hercules aircraft to the Ukrainian region of Donetsk to help the investigation of the plane tragedy, MAF chief General Tan Sri Zulkefli Mohd Zin said, reports the local press.
“We are fully prepared to assist where we can,” he said, adding that a 15-member medical team had also been sent to the area.
JUST IN: Malaysia Airlines releases new list of the number of passengers, and their nationalities, on board #MH17pic.twitter.com/9GGyfAK3UJ
— Ryan Parker (@TheRyanParker) July 19, 2014
China's President Xi Jinping has urged a "fair and objective" investigation into the MH17 crash.
"We feel consternation over the Malaysian plane that fell in Ukrainian territory and express our condolences to the victims and solidarity with their relatives," Xi said after a meeting with Argentina's President Cristina Kirchner during a visit to Buenos Aires.
A former BBC journalist, two university students, and two Newcastle United fans are believed to be among the 10 British victims on board the Malaysian Airlines flight, The Independent reports.
Twenty year old Richard Mayne, a Leeds University student studying maths and finance was on his way to Australia when the plane went down. Ben Pocock, was also heading to Australia on the plane to begin a professional placement and study at the University of Western Australia.
Glenn Thomas, a former BBC journalist, was a media officer at the World Health Organisation (WHO) and was on his way to Australia with a delegation of scientists and activists attending an international Aids conference in Melbourne.
Two Newcastle United fans, John Alder and Liam Sweeney, traveling to see their team play in New Zealand were also feared to be among the victims of the tragedy.
Fidel Castro blamed the Kiev government for the downing of the Malaysian Airlines passenger jet, in an opinion column published by state media entitled "Extraordinary Provocation." The former Cuban leader said the Malaysian Airlines plane was flying over territory "under the control of the bellicose government of the chocolate king Petro Poroshenko.”
Castro said that Cuba has always been in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and said the island nation "cannot refrain from expressing its repudiation of the action by the same anti-Russian, anti-Ukrainian and pro-imperialist government.”
18 July 2014
Federal prosecutors in Belgium launched their own investigation into the crash of Malaysian Airlines, which was carrying six Belgian citizens, RTL radio station reports quoting the press service of the Prosecutor's Office. The main purpose of the investigation is at this stage to gather as much possible information about the circumstances of the incident.
France is ready to dispatch experts to Ukraine to aid the plane crash investigation, RIA Novosti reports, citing a joint statement of the foreign Minister, Laurent Fabius, and secretary of state for transport, Frédéric Cuvillier.
”The bureau in charge of investigating airplane crashes in coordination with its European partners appointed two experts who are ready to take part in the international investigation. The bureau is ready to provide to the investigation laboratory equipment intended to [help] aid reading the information from the black boxes [flight recorders],” the communiqué reads.
The Pentagon has no information that anti-Kiev forces are in possession of an air defense system capable of shooting down a plane.
“The missile itself, the SA-11, which is the one we believe was used to down Flight 17, is a sophisticated piece of technology,” Pentagon press secretary Rear Adm. John Kirby told reporters. “I don’t have an indication now that a system was brought over [from Russia]. And we don’t exactly know who is responsible for firing that missile, or with what assistance."
“What I’m saying is that that system is fairly sophisticated,” Kirby added. “Nobody is suggesting that Russian military advice and assistance has not somehow crossed the border. It is just unclear exactly how much and when and who. That is what the investigators are going to look at and that is what we need to let them do.”
10 Downing Street has made a statement concerning the shooting down of flight MH17, where the UK government blames anti-Kiev forces for the tragedy.
“While it is too early to be categorical about the cause of the disaster... evidence suggests that MH17 was shot down by a surface to air missile and that this was fired from near Torez, in territory controlled by the separatists...On this basis we assess that, without compelling information to the contrary, it is increasingly likely that MH17 was shot down by a separatist missile,” the UK's government statement said.
The Cabinet of ministers also confirmed the death of 10 British nationals, while calling for thorough investigation and access to the crash site by the international team of experts.
“We now know that 10 British nationals tragically lost their lives in this appalling disaster. The families of those killed have been informed and the Foreign Office is offering consular assistance to them at this difficult time.”
Head of the monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe in Ukraine Thomas Greminger said that the team stayed at the crash site for 75 minutes before returning to Donetsk. They expect to return on Saturday.
"They did not have the kind of access that they expected. They did not have the freedom of movement that they need to do their job. The crash site is not sealed off," he told Reuters by telephone. "In the current circumstances, they were not able to help securing this corridor that would allow access for those that would want to investigate," Greminger said.
The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) will sent two experts to help an international team of investigators examine the Malaysian airliner crash site.
Experts intend "close cooperation with local authorities to agree on measures needed to identify the bodies of the victims, so that relatives of the victims are able to get accurate information," Itar-tass reports, citing BKA's statement.
The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) has issued a warning to airlines urging them to avoid flying over eastern Ukraine.
"The Agency draws the aviation community's attention to the possible existence of serious risks to the safety of international civil flights and the consequent airspace restrictions implemented," it said, adding that the safety notice affects the Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk regions of the country.
INTERPOL will send an Incident Response Team (IRT) to Donetsk region to help coordinate the identification of the victims of flight MH 17.
“The INTERPOL team, which includes Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) experts and a representative from the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) will be deployed within the next 48 hours to provide on-site assistance,” the international police force said in a statement.
The International Civil Aviation Authority, a UN body, said that it was a duty of individual nations to issue warnings over its airspace in conflict zone, saying it was not responsible for issuing warnings about potential dangers.
"The International Civil Aviation Authority does not declare airspace safe or unsafe or undertake any other direct operational responsibilities with respect to civilian air services," said ICAO spokesman Anthony Philbin.
Earlier Malaysia's PM Najib Razak said the plane’s flight route had been declared safe by the ICAO.
Up to 10 British passengers were killed on the passenger plane MH17, Malaysia Airlines has said, adding another casualty to the government’s previous estimate.
Earlier on Friday, a number of British casualties were identified by authorities, including former BBC employee Glenn Thomas, 49, and two Newcastle United football fans, Liam Sweeny, 28 and John Alder, who is believed to be in his 60s.
Describing the events as “absolutely shocking”, Prime Minister David Cameron has joined international leaders to insist that those responsible for the attack must be “held to account.”
Earlier on Friday, Cameron held an emergency COBRA meeting in London, insisting that it was too early to know who was responsible for the attack.
Argentina’s envoy to the UN has warned against a “blame game” and called for prudence until the investigation is completed.
The OSCE has said 30 of its staff have arrived at the Malaysian Airlines MH17 crash site near Donetsk.
The self-defense forces of Donetsk People's Republic have allowed Ukraine’s investigators to the site of the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane and promised to welcome all experts from international groups.
“We have already allowed four Ukrainian investigators. Also the experts from OSCE [Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe] and other international organizations will take part in the probe,” DPR’s deputy-PM Andrey Purgin told Interfax.
In the meantime, the OSCE observers hope that militia in eastern Ukraine will assist their investigation of the site, an OSCE representative told RIA Novosti.
“The representatives of DPR promised us and guaranteed the assistance in investigating the circumstances of the accident,” he added.
Ukraine’s traffic controllers ordered the Boeing-777 to lower by 500 meters when the aircraft entered Ukrainian airspace, says a statement on the Malaysia Airlines official website.
“MH17 filed a flight plan requesting to fly at 35,000ft (10,660 meters) throughout Ukrainian airspace. This is close to the ‘optimum’ altitude. However, an aircraft’s altitude in flight is determined by air traffic control on the ground. Upon entering Ukrainian airspace, MH17 was instructed by Ukrainian air traffic control to fly at 33,000ft (10,058 meters).”
The vice-president of Malaysia Airlines Europe, Huib Gorter, announced the latest nationality count for the victims of the MH17 flight:
The Netherlands – 189
Malaysia – 44
Australia – 27
Indonesia – 12
UK – 9
Belgium – 4
Germany – 4
The Philippines – 3
Canada – 1
New Zealand – 1
The nationalities of four people remain unidentified, the official said. The company is working with relevant embassies to double-check the tally.
The next of kin of each passenger killed at Malaysian plane crash will be to be given US$5,000 compensation to cover initial expenses, said Huib Gorter, the vice-president of Malaysia Airlines Europe, speaking at a news conference in Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
Pope Francis “has learned with dismay” of the recent crash of Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, said a statement from the Holy See Press Office.
“[The Pontiff] raises prayers for the numerous victims of the incident and for their relatives, and renews his heartfelt appeal to all parties in the conflict to seek peace and solutions through dialogue, in order to avoid further loss of innocent human lives,” it added.
Both Kiev authorities and self-defense forces in eastern Ukraine should come back to peaceful negotiations, said Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Peace should prevail on Ukrainian soil. Direct contact between the conflicting sides should be established as soon as possible,” he said.
Austria’s Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz has called for a thorough investigation into the tragedy of the Malaysian plane that crashed in Donetsk Region
“We demand that an investigation of the plane crash in eastern Ukraine is conducted promptly and fully,” the minister said in a statement cited by ITAR-TASS. “If it is found out what exactly happened, then the culprits should be prosecuted.”
He said full access to the site of the plane crash is necessary for a transparent probe.
Dutch politician Willem Witteveen, a member of the senate, was among the victims of the Malaysian airplane crash, said a statement from the Dutch parliament, according to press in the Netherlands.
Russia does not plan to take the black boxes from the Malaysian Airlines plane that crashed in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Kiev troops haven’t used any missiles during the military operation in eastern Ukraine, said Andrey Lysenko, spokesman for Ukraine's Security Council, as cited by Reuters.
"All missiles that are in our armory - not one of them has been used," he said.
According to Bogdan Senyk, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry, the Malaysian plane was out of the range of Kiev’s anti-aircraft missile systems.
"Anti-aircraft missiles have not been deployed during the anti-terrorist operation ... they are all in place," he added.
A family of six were among the passengers of Malaysian plane that crashed in Donetsk Region, reported the Star newspaper. The entire family from Kuching city, northeastern Malaysia, were on their way back from Kazakhstan transiting via Amsterdam.
Tambi Jiee, 49, was with his wife Ariza Ghazalee, 47, and four children - Mohd Afif, 19, Mohd Afzal, 17, Marsha Azmeena, 15, and Mohd Afruz, 13.
An Australian woman has lost two relatives in the two recent Malaysia planes disasters. Kaylene Mann lost her brother after Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 disappeared from the radars in March, and which has never been found.
On Friday she learned that her step-daughter Maree Rizk, was among the passengers of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17,
"It's just brought everyone, everything back," said Greg Burrows, Mann's other brother. "It's just ... ripped our guts again."
I've just spoken to the Dutch PM, Mark Rutte. I told him we grieve with him and the Dutch people.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) July 18, 2014
A distant relative of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak was among the passengers on board the Boeing-777 aircraft, reported the Star newspaper.
According to unconfirmed reports, 83-year-old Puan Sri Siti Amirah was traveling alone on her way back to Jogjakarta, Indonesia, from Amsterdam. She intended to transit at Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
It is too “premature to draw conclusions” before the forensic teams have investigated the wreckage of the plane, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.
"Regarding sanctions, I'd like to point out that the events with the plane, as far as I remember, were not even 24 hours ago and at the moment we need to sort out an independent investigation,” she added.
Experts from Interpol will identify the bodies of the passengers of the crashed Malaysian plane, reported the press service of Ukraine’s Interior Ministry.
The negotiations on sending the Interpol specialists to the site of the crashed plane were held between the country’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Ronald Noble, the secretary-general of Interpol.
The black boxes from the Malaysian plane should remain on the territory of Ukraine, said Andrey Sibiga, director of consular services at Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry. The transportation of the boxes abroad is illegal, he added.
So far, 181 bodies have been recovered from wrecks of the crashed Malaysian Airlines jet in Donetsk Region so far, said a statement from Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.
Russia will insist on an objective, open and independent investigation into the crash of the Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
“We are ready to contribute [to the international probe], but certainly we believe that it should be the initiative of the country on whose territory the tragedy happened," he told Rossiya-24.
Lavrov said that Kiev authorities haven’t recently given any credible statements.
“About the statements from Kiev saying that it was almost us [Russia] who [targeted the plane], you know I haven’t heard any credible statements from Kiev in the recent months,” he added.
Kiev authorities and self-defense troops in eastern Ukraine need to implement a ceasefire to allow a speedy independent investigation into the Malaysian Airlines crash in Donetsk Region, said German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
We lost one of our colleagues, Glenn Thomas, on the Malaysian Airlines #MH17 that crashed yesterday. He will be greatly missed #RIPGlennWHO
— WHO (@WHO) July 18, 2014
Kiev authorities have called upon several countries to conduct international investigation of the crash of the Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine, said Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk, as reported by RIA Novosti.
“We started an independent investigation and addressed the governments of the countries to conduct an international investigation into this tragedy,” he added.
Malaysia and the Netherlands are among the countries invited for the independent probe. Also the Boeing Company, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), Eurocontrol (the European Organization for the Safety of Air Navigation), European Commission and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), a US government investigative agency, will join the investigation.
The People’s Republic of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine is ready for a truce with Kiev, said the representative of the Republic in Russia, Andrey Rodkin, reported RIA Novosti.
“We need peace and we are ready to talk about the truce to stop the homicide of the civilian population and destruction of infrastructure,” he said at the meeting of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, in Moscow.
It will be “an outrage against human decency" if the forensic experts prove that the Malaysian plane was shot down, said Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur.
"Should this be confirmed, it will contravene international law and be an outrage against human decency," he said, adding that Malaysia’s authorities welcomed the call for an independent criminal investigation into the incident.
Ukraine’s self-defense forces have recovered eight of the 12 recording devices from the Malaysian plane at the crash site, said forces member Igor Girkin, as cited by AP.
Earlier, Girkin said that the Donetsk self-defense forces won’t interfere with the investigation into the crash of the airplane.
#MH17 LATEST: 173 Dutch, 44 Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 1 Canadian, 1 NZ http://t.co/cOfyUnXeky
— RT (@RT_com) July 18, 2014
Kuala Lumpur will send an investigative team of 62 experts to the area where a Malaysian Airlines jet crashed in Donetsk Region, Malaysian Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said at a press conference.
Siti Dina, a relative of Malaysian citizens who were on the crashed airplane, said she lost five members of her family: her daughter, son-in-law and three grandchildren.
“I was shocked. I got the news, my friend called up. So we watched the CNN news, and then we found it was the MH17,” she told Ruptly.
“They stop in Kuala Lumpur to change to another plane," she said, adding that the family was on its way back to Melbourne.
Malaysian Airlines is trying to arrange safe access for relatives of victims to the area in Donetsk Region where the airplane crashed, a spokeswoman for Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, as reported by Reuters.
"The relatives, a few hundred of them, are currently being housed in a hotel at Schiphol," she added.
A video reportedly depicting the last moments of passengers from the Malaysian plane before departure, has emerged on YouTube. The footage was recorded by Malaysian passenger Md Ali Md Salim and uploaded on his Instagram account. It shows passengers stowing their luggage in the overhead compartment.
Experts have yet to study the black boxes from the downed Malaysian Airlines plane and teams of investigators have not yet arrived at the site of the crash. However Western media outlets and several US politicians, including former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and US Senator John McCain, have already drawn their conclusions –Russia is to blame for the catastrophe.
The Sun, a UK daily tabloid newspaper used its front page with the poster of Russian president to declare "Putin's missile" was to blame.
“Vladimir Putin was facing universal condemnation last night after pro-Russian separatists shot down a passenger jet carrying 295 people over Ukraine,” says the article from the Sun.
RT’s Marina Portnaya was following the headlines of Western media outlets.
Flowers brought to Dutch, Malaysian embassies in Moscow to pay respect to #MH17 victims http://t.co/cOfyUnXekypic.twitter.com/vZ5EgaBF1L
— RT (@RT_com) July 18, 2014
Russian airlines have decided to stop regular flights to eastern Ukrainian cities of Dnepropetrovsk and Odessa on July 18-20, reports Russia’s Air Service. The flights were stopped due to the recent downing of a Malaysian plane over Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Air service has closed the airspace over the zone of military operation in eastern Ukraine, reported its press service. It added that the zone was closed after the crash of the Malaysian plane and flights will resume after the situation is “stabilized.”
Five Belgian citizens have been killed in Malaysian airplane crash in Donetsk Region, said Didier Reynders, Belgium’s foreign minister.
An Israeli citizen is reportedly among the victims of the crashed plane, the man’s father wrote on his Facebook page.
"Today 17-7-2014 our son Ithamar was in the crashed malaysia airlines plain that went from Amstersam to australia - ithamar was 27 years old [sic],” wrote Dov Avnon, the man’s father.
One hundred and twenty-one bodies have been recovered from wrecks of the crashed Malaysian plane in Donetsk Region so far. At least 95 rescuers and 18 vehicles are now recovering the remains, reports the press service of Ukraine’s Emergency Ministry.
Self-defense forces from People’s Republic of Donetsk are guarding the areas of the crashed plane where the rescue workers are recovering the bodies. The criminal experts from the city of Donetsk are due to arrive Friday afternoon.
The militias fighting in eastern Ukraine against the government troops have no weapons systems that could have shot down the Malaysia Airlines plane on Thursday, the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, Vitaly Yaryoma, stated citing a military report submitted to President Petro Poroshenko.
Considering the high altitude the MH17 was flying, it could not have been taken down by a portable anti-aircraft missile or anti-aircraft cannon, which the Ukrainian militia have been using to attack Ukrainian military aircraft.
Earlier there were reports that the militia had captured a Buk missile launcher, which could have done it, but Kiev insisted that the system was out of order and could not be repaired by the militia.
A major Dutch AIDS expert, Joep Lange, was among the passengers of Malaysian airplane that downed in Donetsk Region, eastern Ukraine. David Cooper, a professor at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales, who was working with Lange, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
"Joep had an absolute commitment to HIV treatment and care in Asia and Africa," Cooper added.
According to unconfirmed reports from Australian news outlets, over a hundred of the plane’s passengers were heading to the 20th International AIDS Conference which is scheduled to start on Sunday in Melbourne, Australia.
A second flight recorder from the Malaysian airliner brought down in Ukraine has been recovered, a Reuters cameraman reported from the scene. On Thursday, local militia controlling the area reported finding the first flight recorder of the Boeing 777.
Astounding map of the airspace over Ukraine after #MH17 was downed: http://t.co/yclqVLgMxYpic.twitter.com/crA6cLGUfv
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 17, 2014
People are bringing flowers and candles to the Malaysian Embassy in Moscow to mourn the victims of the airplane crash in Donetsk Region, reports Gazeta.ru.
Malaysia Airlines is preparing a team of investigators, which will be sent to Ukraine to investigate the fatal crash of its Boeing 777, the company said in a statement. It didn’t state the number of specialists it is sending.
Indonesia's president said on Friday he had instructed all national airlines to avoid flying over Ukraine, the Gaza Strip and other conflict areas after a Malaysian airliner with 298 people aboard was shot down.
"I have issued instructions for Indonesian airlines to avoid conflict areas, especially Ukraine ... and Gaza strip," President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said in a televised address.
World leaders demanded an international investigation into the shooting down of the Malaysia Airlines plane over eastern Ukraine, in which all 298 people on board were killed. (Reuters)
The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday morning at 10:00 am EST (1400 GMT) on Ukraine.
The US has urged all parties in the conflict in Ukraine to support “an immediate cease-fire in order to ensure safe and unfettered access to the crash site for international investigators and in order to facilitate the recovery of remains,” The White House Office of the Press Secretary said.
“In the meantime, it is vital that no evidence be tampered with in any way and that all potential evidence and remains at the crash site are undisturbed. The United States remains prepared to contribute immediate assistance to any international investigation, including through resources provided by the NTSB and the FBI.”
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper was quick to condemn Russia's role in Ukraine, and stopped just short of accusing Moscow directly for the shoot-down of the passenger airliner over Ukrainian airspace.
"While we do not yet know who is responsible for this attack, we continue to condemn Russia's military aggression and illegal occupation of Ukraine," Harper said in a statement, adding that it was "at the root of the ongoing conflict in the region."
President Obama called Malaysian Prime Minister Najib to “express condolences to the people of Malaysia,” the White House says. “President Obama reaffirmed the strength of the friendship between the United States and Malaysia and underscored that the United States stands ready to provide any assistance or support necessary.”
China’s aviation administration has ordered all Chinese airliners to avoid eastern Ukrainian airspace where flight MH17 has crashed, CCTV reports.
A Dutch scientist and a World Health Organization spokesman were among the 108 delegates heading to Melbourne Australia for the 20th International AIDS Conference when the Malaysian Airline flight was shot down, Bloomberg cites unconfirmed reports.
“The International AIDS Society today expresses its sincere sadness,” it said in a statement on the meeting’s website. “At this incredibly sad and sensitive time, the IAS stands with our international family and sends condolences to the loved ones of those who have been lost to this tragedy.”
Among those confirmed killed were Glenn Thomas, a Geneva-based spokesman for the WHO, said Rachel Baggaley, coordinator of the UN agency’s HIV prevention program, the agency reports.
US Secretary of State John Kerry said Washington is reviewing whether US citizens were aboard MH17, while saying the US was "prepared to assist with a credible, international investigation any way we can."
Horrified by crash of flight #MH17 - condolences to families. US prepared to help w credible/internat'l investigation http://t.co/6yefRe0PiG
— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) July 18, 2014
The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a Notice to Airman (NOTAM) “prohibiting US flight operations until further notice” over eastern Ukraine.
The restricted area includes the “entire Simferopol and Dnepropetrovsk flight information regions (FIRs).” No scheduled US airlines are currently flying routes through this airspace, the watchdog added.
Kiev authorities attempt to shift the blame for the catastrophe Malaysian Boeing 777 on the DPR look “ridiculous” according to DPR representative.
Claims that an intercepted conversation recording emerged from the Cossacks brigade and the actual language and tone of the conversation, “are an example of the most ridiculous attempt to shift the blame on the DPR and an example of the most helpless unprofessional propaganda," DPR spokesman Sergey Kavtaradze, told Ria Novosti.
Kavtaradze once again reiterated that anti-Kiev forces do not posses the capabilities to shoot down an aircraft at that altitude.
Malaysian Airlines has adopted a temporary new policy in its booking system waiving all fees for those passengers wishing to avoid flying with the carrier.
#MH17: @MAS will waive all fees for changes to travel from today until further notice: pic.twitter.com/Yj9U0kGiPY
— BBC News Asia (@BBCNewsAsia) July 18, 2014
Eva Airways, a major Taiwanese carrier said it will reroute its 20 round-trip flights paths to avoid flying over Ukraine.
"Our planes will avoid entering Ukraine airspace effective immediately," a representative of the company told Reuters. "This will remain in effect indefinitely."
Anti-Kiev forces offered security guarantees to international observers and investigators at the crash site of the Malaysian Boeing in eastern Ukraine, the OSCE said in a statement following a Trilateral Contact Group convening in Kiev. According to the statement, the sides agreed to the following:
1. As a matter of priority, they shall close off the site of the catastrophe and allow local authorities to start preparations for the recovery of bodies;
2. They shall provide safe access and security guarantees to the national investigation commission, including international investigators, in the area under their control;
3. They shall provide safe access and security guarantees to OSCE monitors;
4. They shall cooperate with the relevant authorities of Ukraine on all practical questions arising in the course of the recovery and investigation.
Didier Burkhalter, OSCE Chairperson-in-Office has expressed his “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17, while calling for a “thorough and impartial” investigation. He also called on all warring parties to come to a ceasefire agreement.
President Obama in a telephone conversation with Dutch PM Mark Rutte said the US would support a "prompt, full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation" into the Boeing crash in Ukraine. The White House said that Obama told Rutte the United States was prepared to contribute "immediate assistance".
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) is ready to assist in the investigation of the crash of Malaysian aircraft Boeing-777 in eastern Ukraine, ICAO director Anthony Philbin told RIA Novosti.
"ICAO recently warned the countries and their air carriers about the potential dangers of flights over Simferopol area (Crimea) due to the presence of more than one air traffic control service. Flight MH17 was lost outside that zone, and ICAO is ready to support a crash investigation if requested."
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk held consultations with the Polish Ministry of Defense over the plane crash in neighboring Ukraine, to coordinate a response strategy, RIA Novosti reports
"PM Donald Tusk met with the head of the Ministry of Defense in connection with the crash of the liner in the Ukraine. Donald Tusk also discussed the situation with Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski," the PM’s press office said.
17 July 2014
DPR authorities say they will create headquarters to investigate the crash of the Boeing 777 that will also handle and coordinate work with relevant international organizations and work with the victims' relatives, DPR's Minister Alexander Boroday told Itar-tass.
President Barack Obama held consultations with the administration's national security team over the US response to the shooting down of flight MH17.
The White House announced that Obama held separate calls with Secretary of State John Kerry and senior security officials, including CIA Director John Brennan, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough and deputy national security adviser Lisa Monaco.
"The President was briefed on our ongoing efforts to support the Ukrainian government and a prompt international investigation into what took place," the White House said. "The President directed his national security team to continue offering whatever assistance is necessary to advance the international effort to determine what happened."
Deputy for the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) that oversees the use and management of civil aviation in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Sergey Zayko told RT the “investigation has to be conducted strictly based on the rules of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).”
“Considering the severity of the situation at the Malayan Airlines Boeing 777 crash site, we believe that it is necessary to form an international investigation committee into the tragedy that could be formed under an ICAO umbrella,” Zayko said, adding that the black boxes of the plane should be handled by this commission under strict control of the international organization.
Shortly before boarding Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, a Dutchman, Cor Pan heading for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam with his girlfriend paused to take a picture of the Boeing 777-200, posting it on Facebook with a scary description, "If the plane disappears, this is what it looks like."
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the downing of a Malaysian airliner an “unspeakable crime" as he called for justice, for all those that died onboard including at least 27 Australians.
"If it does turn out that this aircraft was brought down by a surface to air missile, there is no doubt that this would be, under those circumstances, an unspeakable crime and the perpetrators should swiftly be brought to justice," Abbott said.
The death toll in the crash has been updated to 298 passengers.
"There were 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the plane," Malaysian Airlines vice president Huib Gorter told reporters at a press conference at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport from where the doomed flight had taken off.
The Ukrainian authorities have released what they claim to be an intercepted communication recording between members of the Donetsk self-defense forces, allegedly saying that the plane that was shot down was a civilian aircraft.
US President Barack Obama in a telephone call with Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko stressed that all material evidence from the Malaysian Boeing 777 tragedy must remain in Ukraine for investigators to see.
"The presidents emphasized that all evidence from the crash site must remain in place on the territory of Ukraine until international investigators are able to examine all aspects of the tragedy," the White House said.
White House photo of Pres. Obama on Air Force One talking with Pres. Poroshenko. pic.twitter.com/OLwVmAi9Wv
— Steve Brusk (@stevebruskCNN) July 17, 2014
"President Poroshenko welcomed the assistance of international investigators to ensure a thorough and transparent investigation of the crash site," the statement said, highlighting the US has offered its assistance into investigating the tragedy.
A search operation at the site of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash will be carried out throughout the night, the state emergency service in the Donetsk region reported.
"The sites where the pilots cabin and large parts of fuselage crashed are being illuminated. Material evidence is being collected there," the emergency service office said, adding that forensic scientists from Donetsk are expected to arrive at the site on Friday morning.
There have been previous reports that self-defense forces from the region found objects resembling the flight data recorders, according to Interfax agency.
People are flocking to the Dutch embassy in Kiev to show their their support and condolences to the families of the victims of the crash.
A kinder image. Flowers being laid outside Dutch embassy in Kiev Photo: @Zoreslav4yk#MH17pic.twitter.com/iw0IwCfu24
— Ian Bateson (@ianbateson) July 17, 2014
Now at the #Dutch embassy in #Kiev. Ukrainians showing their support. Thank you. #mh17#ukrainepic.twitter.com/r5RfteE0So
— Christian Vermont (@FollowChris) July 17, 2014
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has established an operational headquarters to communicate with the victims' families of the Malaysian airlines crash. The press service of the Foreign Ministry will also "coordinate the work with the diplomatic missions of other countries." Staff offices have also been created at the Ukrainian Embassy in Malaysia and the Netherlands.
RT's Spanish correspondent, Francisco Guaita who is now at the crash scene in Donetsk region says the situation on the ground is “very complicated,” with aircraft parts spread around. Guaita says that after talking to firefighters, no bodies were found by them, but they said the death toll was close to 300 people.
Malaysia Airlines plane crash was “not an accident," as the jet was "blown out of the sky,” US Vice President Joe Biden commented at a conference in Detroit on Thursday.
Biden added that "we don't have all the detail yet," but said "there may have been American citizens on board."
Responsibility for investigating the circumstances of the Boeing 777 crash in the Donetsk region, lies on the Ukrainian side, Sergey Zayko, Deputy for the Interstate Aviation Committee (IAC) told Channel One.
“The responsibility for the accident investigation rests with the State on whose territory the accident happened."
Responding to a question on whether the IAC take part in the investigation of the tragedy, he explained that this "should be a decision on the formation of a commission to investigate the incident with the determination of all parties, states and international organizations," said the deputy head of the committee. "So far no such decision has been made.”
Huib Gorter, a senior vice-president of Malaysia Airlines, released a partial list of the nationalities of the plane’s passengers:
Netherlands 154 Australia 27 Malaysia 23 United States 23 Unknown20 Indonesia 11 United Kingdom 6 Belgium4 France
4 Germany 4 Philippines 3 Canada 1 Total280
RT’s Irina Galushko reports there were at least 82 children on board, though that number may be as high as 100. The 15-person crew was Malaysian, the airline said.
Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the Guardian that any allegations of Russian involvement in shooting down the Malaysian Boeing 777 is "stupidity", as he claimed that Russia will not make a further statement on the tragedy because "no one knows" who is responsible for the tragedy. Asked about the possibility of further US sanctions in light of this, Peskov said he could not rule it out: "The United States has recently been conducting a very non-constructive policy, and their actions are very unpredictable," he said.
The Russian air defense systems were not deployed on Thursday near the Ukrainian border and no Russian air-force planes were flying over the area, the Russian Defense Ministry says, claiming that this can be independently confirmed.
“On July 17 air defense system of the the Russian Federation in the area did not activate. Russian Air Force planes were not performing flights over Russian regions bordering Donetsk region,” the statement says.
Instead the ministry says that 27 “Buk M1” launchers are deployed by the Ukrainian forces in the Donetsk region, with the capabilities to shoot down targets at an altitude of more than 30km. The Russian Ministry also said that Ukrainian fighter jets are constantly patrolling the skies over Donetsk.
Kiev statements that Ukraine's forces did not fire over its airspace raise serious doubts, the Russian Ministry of Defense says.
"In such a short time with fierce fighting in the area it is impossible to come to such an unequivocal conclusion. Such responsible statements that involve serious legal consequences, require a comprehensive investigation,” stressed in the Russian Defense Ministry, calling for an international investigation.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced Thursday his country is sending emergency personnel to Ukraine to take part in the investigation into the MH17 crash. “Ukrainian authorities believe that the plane was shot down. At this stage, however, Malaysia is unable to verify the cause of this tragedy,” he said at a press conference.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko confirmed to the Malaysian PM that “his government will negotiate with rebels in the east of the country to establish a humanitarian corridor to the crash site.”
“This is a tragic day in what has already been a tragic year in Malaysia. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of those on board the flight,” Razak said at the end. “The flight passengers and crew came from many different countries... but we are all united in grief.”
Russian President Putin believes Ukraine responsible for Malaysian airliner tragedy.
“Obviously, the state over whose territory it happened bears responsibility for this terrible tragedy,” said the head of the Russian state at a meeting on economic issues, which he proposed to start with a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the disaster.
“This tragedy would not have happened if there was peace on this land, if military action in the southeast of Ukraine had not been resumed,” Putin said, adding that he has asked the appropriate Russian authorities to do everything to investigate the matter.
“We must do everything in our power that an objective picture of what happened goes public in our community, in Ukraine and all over the world,” Putin said as he expressed his condolences to the families of victims.
The Russian Health Ministry says it's ready to provide any assistance to its Ukrainian colleagues in forensic tests of the plane crash victims, the Ministry press-secretary said. He added that so far no such requests have been received.
The Russian Defense Ministry says the Malaysian Airliner was flying outside the air defense capabilities of Russia.
The UN Security Council plans to hold an emergency meeting over the shooting down of Malaysian airliner in Ukraine, and the deteriorating situation in the country. The meeting was called in by the UK, Itar-tass reports.
DNR authorities announced that they are planning to conclude a humanitarian truce with Kiev to investigate the crash of a Malaysian airliner Boeing 777, the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed republic Alexander Boroday said, Ria Novosti reports.
"We are in a videoconference … with the authorities in Kiev. We will allow international organizations to get here," said Boroday. According to him, if the truce is signed, it will last for two or three days. He added that the incident looks like a provocation.
Ukraine's state security chief accused two Russian military intelligence officers of involvement in the downing of a Malaysian passenger plane on Thursday. The SBU chief Valentin Nalivaychenko added they must be punished for their "crime."
The Ukrainian official said he based his allegation on intercepts of phone conversations between the two officers.
US intelligence officials told the Wall Street Journal a surface-to-air missile hit MH17. However, the unnamed intelligence source says that it's not clear where the missile came from or who fired it.
U.S. intelligence confirms surface-to-air missile fired at Malaysian jet but are divided over origin. http://t.co/ERuwcHcGLt
— WSJ Breaking News (@WSJbreakingnews) July 17, 2014
Airlines in the US have agreed to avoid flying in the airspace near the border of Russia and Ukraine, the Office for Civil Aviation (FAA) reported. This agreement was reached on a voluntary basis, the agency said. FAA added it will monitor the situation to determine whether additional recommendations for airlines in connection with the crash in Ukraine are needed.
The Lugansk People’s Republic press service has announced that OSCE representatives in the area have set off for the crash site, to monitor the investigation.
NATO’s chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged an immediate international investigation into the crash of the Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane in Eastern Ukraine, RIA-Novosti news agency reports.
The plane was being guided by Ukrainian air traffic controllers before it disappeared off the radars, a Russian aviation representative told Rossiya-24 news channel.
The EU has said it is “shocked” by the crash, and called for all sides to determine who is behind it.
“We call for an immediate and thorough investigation into the causes of the crash. The facts and responsibilities need to be established as quickly as possible. The European Union will continue to follow this issue very closely,” said an official communiqué published by Brussels.
Donetsk People’s Republic Prime Minister Aleksandr Boroday has called for a humanitarian ceasefire for 2 to 3 days to investigate the causes of the MH17 crash, RIA news agency reports.
Boroday earlier accused Kiev of shooting down the plane to frame local militias.
Civilian airspace over eastern Ukraine has been closed until further notice, continental air traffic regulator Eurocontrol has announced.
The body confirmed Ukrainian information that the traffic corridor in which the plane was brought down had been closed off at low altitudes, but open at above 10,000, where the plane was flying.
There were at least 71 Dutch citizens aboard the crashed plane, Germany's RTL channel has reported. Previous unconfirmed reports suggested that there were also 23 passengers with US identification and 9 Brits on the flight. French authorities have confirmed that four of their citizens died in the crash.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has cleared up the confusion about whether the space in which MH17 was open to civilian planes.
“Based on the information currently available it is believed that the airspace that the aircraft was traversing was not subject to restrictions,” said a statement on the IATA website.
It is not unusual for civilian planes to fly over warzones, providing that they remain at an altitude at which they are unlikely to be hit by the weapons used in the conflict.
Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies has lodged an official request with the Ukrainian authorities to send its staff to work alongside local emergency workers around the crash site.
US President Barack Obama began a prescheduled address on infrastructure in Wilmington, Delaware Thursday afternoon by remarking briefly what he called a “terrible tragedy” in eastern Ukraine.
“Right now we are working to determine whether there were American citizens on board. That is our first priority,” said the president.
Additionally, Obama said he’s directed his national security team to reach out to the Ukrainian government, and said the US “will offer any assistance we can to help determine what happened and why.”
Unverified reports have suggested that 23 Americans may have been onboard the plane, but US State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki said earlier in the afternoon that American authorities are still investigating those claims.
The self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, which controls the area around the crash site, says that it will pass the flight recorders of the downed plane to Russian authorities.
“In Moscow, they have high-class experts, and they will be able to determine the cause of the crash, though it seems obvious enough anyway,” said vice-premier Andrey Purgin.
Malasyan airliner was flying normally without problems until it disappeared from radar, Reuters reported siting the head of Ukrainian airspace regulatory body.
Britain’s United Nations envoy Mark Lyall Grant has called on the UN Security Council to schedule an extraordinary meeting to consider the implications of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash. The UNSC is already in session in New York, holding discussions about North Korea.
RT has obtained a video of the purported crash site from an eyewitness.
Ukraine's TSN channel has reported that 23 US citizens were onboard the plane.
WARNING GRAPHIC PHOTO: Scene of Malaysia #MH17 plane crash in E. #Ukrainehttp://t.co/cOfyUnXekypic.twitter.com/7wKF1TroVY
— RT (@RT_com) July 17, 2014
A source within the Russian air traffic agency has told ITAR-TASS that Ukraine's security agency decided to close the airspace above the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk republics three days ago, contradicting Ukrainian sources, who claim that the air corridor in which they plane was likely shot down, was still open.
NEW PHOTO: Crash site of Malaysia #MH17 plane in E. #Ukraine, 280+ passengers on board http://t.co/7wORuwKiHHpic.twitter.com/Y7uN9ctfTT
— RT (@RT_com) July 17, 2014
Virgin, Transaero and Lufthansa are among a flood of airlines announcing that they will be rerouting all of their flights away from the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine. The US FAA advised American companies to avoid the area as far back as April.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s navigation service has told Russia’s RIA news agency that the air corridor above 9,600 meters was open to civilian flights. The plane was reportedly at an altitude of 10,600 when ground control lost contact.
Vladimir Putin has expressed his "sincere condolences" to Malaysian Prime Minister Najob Razak, the Kremlin press service reports.
The Twitter of the Malaysian Defense Minister says that it doesn't yet know whether plane was downed, but had started an investigation.
No comfirmation it was shot down! Our military have been instructed 2 get on it! “@Nessie43: @tenoq Ukr Gov report plane was shot down
— Hishammuddin Hussein (@HishammuddinH2O) July 17, 2014
Vladimir Putin informed Barack Obama about the crash immediately by phone, on the basis of air controller data, but so far neither the Kremlin nor the White House have commented on whether the Boeing-777 was downed.
The plane disappeared off the radars at about 13.20 GMT, about 10 minutes before it was due to leave Ukrainian airspace, a source in the Russian aviation industry has told Moscow-based RIA news agency.
Ukrainian president, Petro Poroshenko, has rejected any involvement of the Ukrainian armed forces in the crash of the Malaysian jet, Interfax news agency reports.
According to AirlineReporter website, the tail number of the crashed Malaysian plane is reported to be 9M-MRD. It was operating as flight 17. The Boeing 777-200ER was delivered to Malaysia Airlines in 1997.
FIRST PHOTO: Eyewitness' alleged photo of debris of #MH17 Malaysian Airlines plane in #Ukrainehttp://t.co/cOfyUnXekypic.twitter.com/TbIPiH0iCh
— RT (@RT_com) July 17, 2014
The Donetsk People’s Republic – where heavy fighting continues between Kiev and opposition – has denied reports in the Western media which claim that the Malaysian plane was shot down.
The local self-defense forces aren’t in possession of military equipment capable of bringing the jet down, they explained.
Residents have reported about finding debris from a plane, which they say could belong to the Malaysian Boeing. They also said no bodies have been seen, RIA Novosti reports.
Last reported position log was as of 1:20 PM UTC pic.twitter.com/mwXGSplXU9
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) July 17, 2014
Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that it has lost contact with the plane when it was flying over Ukrainian soil.
Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow.
— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) July 17, 2014
The Malaysian aircraft “crashed 60km away from the [Russia-Ukraine] border, the plane had an emergency beacon,” ITAR-TASS is citing its source in Russian aviation industry.
The picture allegedly shows the crashed Malaysian plane departing from Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport.
B772 9M-MRD вылетевший из Схипхола pic.twitter.com/1Ig2rVfxbG
— Митя Алешковский (@aleshru) July 17, 2014
The Ukrainian military has confirmed that a Malaysian plane has crashed in east of the country.
All 285 passengers and 15 crew members have died in the crash, an adviser to the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Anton Geraschenko said.
A Malaysian Airlines’ Boeing-777 has crashed in Eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.