Saturday, July 19
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
Brak komentarzy:
Prześlij komentarz