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Bone fragments found as operation to remove MH17 wreckage from crash site begins in eastern Ukraine

More human remains have been discovered at the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine. Four months af...
Newstalk
Newstalk

13.23 16 Nov 2014


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Bone fragments found as operat...

Bone fragments found as operation to remove MH17 wreckage from crash site begins in eastern Ukraine

Newstalk
Newstalk

13.23 16 Nov 2014


Share this article


More human remains have been discovered at the MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine.

Four months after the Malaysia Airlines plane was brought down, work has started to recover the wreckage.

Rescuers say bone fragments were found after part of the aircraft was moved.

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Recovery workers started collecting pieces of the plane under the supervision of Dutch investigators and authorities from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Each of the fragments will be sawn into smaller pieces and then taken by train to the government-controlled city of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine.

The Boeing 777 crashed over the country on a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur on July 17, killing all 298 people on board, including 10 Britons.

The recovery operation is expected to take around 10 days, according to Alexander Kostrubitsky, the head of the emergency services in the rebel-held Donetsk region.

An investigation into the crash is under way in the Netherlands, which lost 193 people in the crash.

The disaster has been blamed on pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine.

'High-energy objects'

An initial report by the Dutch Safety Board in September said that the aircraft was downed by "a large number of high-energy objects".

The report added that the plane broke up in the air as a result of "structural damage", caused by the items which "penetrated the aircraft from outside", consistent with the claims it had been hit by a ground-to-air missile.

Investigations and previous recovery operations have been delayed amid continued fighting between both sides of the Ukraine conflict, despite a truce agreed in September.

Russian President Vladimir Putin left the G20 summit in Australia early this weekend amid strong criticism of his country's role in the Ukraine crisis.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has been particularly strong-worded in his criticism of Russia since the plane was shot down. Thirty-eight Australians died in the crash.

Mr Abbott had vowed that those responsible would face judgment.

He met Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the two had what he described as a "very robust" discussion about the Ukraine situation.

Mr Abbot added: "I utterly deplore what seems to be happening in eastern Ukraine.

"I demand that Russia fully cooperate with the investigation, the criminal investigation of the downing of MH17, one of the most terrible atrocities of recent times."

Originally published at 13.20


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