Dutch say train with MH17 bodies to leave station in east Ukraine

July 21, 2014 | 19:35

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A Dutch forensic team on Monday said a train carrying the bodies of victims from a downed Malaysian jet will set off from the railway station in east Ukraine, to a place where “we can do our work”.

Ukrainian rescue workers collect bodies of victims at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in east Ukraine. (AFP/Dominique Faget)

TOREZ: A Dutch forensic team on Monday said a train carrying the bodies of victims from a downed Malaysian jet will set off from the railway station in east Ukraine, to a place where “we can do our work”.

“We don’t know the time and we don’t know the destination. We got a promise: today it is going,” said the head of the team, speaking to reporters at the station in Torez.

Dutch forensic experts on Monday inspected the bodies of victims from Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which was reportedly downed in east Ukraine by a surface-to-air missile. 193 passengers on the flight were Dutch.

Earlier reports stated that each of the train wagons carrying the corpses was opened and examined by two men wearing masks and headlights. The stench from the wagon was overpowering and, contrary to claims that the carriages were refrigerated, there was little sign that the remains in black body bags were being chilled.

In the Netherlands, Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the priority is to move the bodies to Kiev-controlled territory.

"The first aim is to get the trains out and let them go to Ukrainian-controlled territory, preferably Kharkiv," Rutte said, referring to a major city some 300 kilometres away which has remained firmly in Kiev's hands.

"The separatists have said that international observers must be present when the train leaves... the Dutch experts are international observers... they can fulfill that role," Rutte said.

AFP

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