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New clashes in eastern Ukraine have forced the international forensics team to halt operations in part of the vast crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Observers had to withdraw from one village when they heard artillery fire although work is still continuing across much of the area.
MH17 went down on July 17 with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew.
The US and Ukraine say pro-Russian rebels probably shot down the jet with a missile but rebels deny the claim.
Alexander Hug, the deputy chief monitor with the Ukraine mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), told AFP a visit to the village of Petropavlivka had been agreed with the rebels and Ukrainian forces.
New clashes in eastern Ukraine have forced the international forensics team to halt operations in part of the vast crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
About 70 Dutch and Australian experts are scouring a site of some 20 sq km.
A spokesman for the Dutch team said it was still focusing on searching for human remains, although security is also a key issue.
Neither the rebels nor Ukrainian forces are in full control of the site.
The Dutch team has flown in from the Netherlands two dogs trained to search for human remains and another two specialist dogs are on their way from Belgium.
The Australian team also has specialist equipment – a mini-drone fitted with a camera – but it has not yet been given permission by the rebels to fly it.
The US and Ukraine say pro-Russian rebels probably shot down the plane with a missile supplied from Russia.
The rebels say it could have been brought down by a Ukrainian fighter jet.
Most of those who died were Dutch nationals.
More than 220 coffins have now been sent back to the Netherlands.
Separately, a senior adviser to the rebels confirmed that extrajudicial killings had been carried out in eastern Ukraine “to prevent chaos”.
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Dutch and Australian forensic experts have found human remains at the site of the flight MH17 crash in east Ukraine.
They made their discovery on their first full day of searching at the site, an area of some 13.5 sq miles inside the conflict zone.
Local search parties found 227 of the 298 victims earlier and they were flown to the Netherlands for identification.
Fighting still rages, with 10 Ukrainian soldiers killed nearby on Thursday.
Dutch and Australian forensic experts have found human remains at the site of the flight MH17 crash in east Ukraine
The fighting between government troops and pro-Russian separatist rebels had previously prevented the investigators reaching the area.
Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 airliner came down on July 17 with the loss of all 298 passengers and crew, while flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
After Ukraine’s military declared a unilateral one-day suspension of operations against the rebels in Donetsk region on Thursday, an exploratory visit was made by the forensic experts, followed by the full deployment on Friday.
It is now unclear whether Ukraine’s army or separatist forces control the site, as fighting continues nearby.
The head of the search mission, Pieter-Jaap Aalbersberg, announced that it had completed its first day of work and had recovered human remains which would be sent to the Netherlands.
He said the mission was moving to a new base in the Donetsk town of Soledar.
The investigators had travelled in 16 vehicles to the crash site, outside the village of Grabove, along with monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Artillery fire could be heard periodically somewhere in the distance during the work on Friday, AP news agency reports.
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International forensic scientists have reached the crash site of Malaysia Airlines plane in east Ukraine after the government halted military operations.
Australian and Dutch police experts arrived in a convoy of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors.
Fighting between government and rebel forces had prevented them getting there for nearly a week.
Australia believes that around 80 bodies remain at the crash site.
Explosions were reportedly heard near the site after their arrival.
A journalist for AFP news agency heard several “powerful” blasts and saw a plume of smoke less than 6 miles from the crash site.
Russian aviation experts are also in Ukraine, hoping to visit the site.
The Malaysia Airlines plane crashed on 17 July in eastern Ukraine, with the deaths of all 298 people on board.
The rebels deny that they shot it down with a missile by mistake.
Officials in Russia, which has been accused by the US and others of supplying the rebels with advanced weaponry, suggest that Ukraine’s own armed forces downed the jet – a charge rejected by Kiev.
International forensic scientists have reached the crash site of Malaysia Airlines plane in east Ukraine after the government halted military operations
Russia has come under increased pressure to end its support for the rebels despite having continually denied claims that it is arming and training them.
OSCE monitors on the ground said in a tweet that they had reached the crash site with the Dutch and Australian investigators after using a new access route.
Getting out of their cars, they stopped for a minute’s silence in remembrance of those killed almost two weeks ago to the hour.
The Dutch justice ministry told AFP the Dutch-Australian team was so far only a “reconnaissance” mission but would hopefully pave the way for more experts to visit soon.
The Netherlands lost 193 of its citizens in the crash while Australia lost 27 and Malaysia 43.
Speaking on a visit to Kiev, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she had been told that 80 bodies could still be at the crash site.
“We are determined to access the site, so that we can collect the remains with some dignity and return them to the Netherlands where they can be identified,” she said.
“And then the grieving families across the world who lost 298 people can have some closure.”
Malaysian PM Najib Razak said on a visit to the Netherlands that a team of 68 Malaysian police officers had arrived in Kiev to help with the investigation.
Speaking at a news conference, Najib Razak and his Dutch counterpart, Mark Rutte, said they were united in mourning.
Mark Rutte outlined their three shared priorities: to repatriate the rest of the passengers’ remains from Ukraine, to establish the cause of the crash and to bring those responsible to justice.
The crash area appears to be still under the control of rebel fighters, an AP news agency journalist at the scene said.
A Russian delegation led by Oleg Storchevoy, deputy head of Russia’s federal air transport agency Rosaviatsia, arrived in Kiev earlier.
“Russian experts intend to meet the head of the investigative commission… and hand over all the materials that the chairman of the commission had previously asked for,” Rosaviatsia said in a statement.
“Today, the Russian representatives will also try to reach the crash area of the Boeing 777 and together with specialists from the international investigative commission examine the state of parts of the aircraft at the site.”
There was no comment on the Russians’ involvement from Ukrainian and Dutch officials approached by AP.
The press service for Ukraine’s “anti-terrorist operation” said troops would refrain from combat operations in the Donetsk region, except in self-defense, in order to allow investigators to do their work on Thursday.
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The downed Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine suffered an explosive loss of pressure after it was punctured by shrapnel from a missile, security officials in Ukraine say.
They say the information came from the plane’s flight data recorders, which are being analyzed by British experts.
However, it remains unclear who fired a missile, with pro-Russia rebels and Ukraine blaming each other.
The downed Malaysia Airlines plane in eastern Ukraine suffered an explosive loss of pressure after it was punctured by shrapnel from a missile
Many of the 298 people killed on board flight MH17 were from the Netherlands.
Dutch investigators leading the inquiry into the crash have refused to comment on the Ukrainian claims.
Heavy fighting has prevented an international police force composed of Dutch and Australian officers from reaching the crash site for a second consecutive day.
Ukraine’s army said on Monday it had managed to capture two towns near the wreckage in its bid to win back territory from the hands of the rebels.
The international delegation was stopped in Shakhtarsk, a town some 20 miles away from the area where flight MH17 was brought down.
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According to the UN’s human rights chief, Navi Pillay, the downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine may be a “war crime”.
Pro-Russia Ukrainian rebels and the Ukrainian authorities have accused each other of shooting down flight MH17.
A Ukrainian official said on Monday that MH17’s data recorders show it came down due to “massive explosive decompression” caused by a rocket.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting has again prevented an international police force from reaching the crash site.
The Ukrainian military said it was battling separatists for control of several towns near the site in eastern Ukraine.
All 298 people on board the airliner – mostly Dutch – died on July 17.
The downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane in Ukraine may be considered a war crime
International police want to help secure the huge site so that plane wreckage and human remains can be examined by international crash experts.
Most of the bodies have been removed, many of them repatriated to the Netherlands.
“This violation of international law, given the prevailing circumstances, may amount to a war crime,” Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said of the downing of MH17.
“Every effort will be made to ensure that anyone committing serious violations of international law including war crimes will be brought to justice, no matter who they are,” she said.
Navi Pillay spoke as the latest UN report on Ukraine suggested at least 1,129 people have been killed and 3,442 wounded in the Ukraine conflict since mid-April.
The conflict has displaced more than 200,000 people, many of whom have fled east to neighboring Russia.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian security spokesman Andriy Lysenko told reporters on Monday that recovered flight data showed the aircraft crashed due to a massive, explosive loss of pressure after being punctured multiple times by shrapnel.
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According to Dutch PM Mark Rutte, sending out an international military force to secure the site of the downed Malaysian Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine is “unrealistic”.
The site is currently controlled by pro-Russia rebels who have been accused of shooting down flight MH17.
All 298 people on board – most of them Dutch – died.
In the latest fighting in the area, 13 people were killed as troops try to seize Horlivka from the rebels.
Separately, the US has released images to back its claim of Russian firing into Ukraine.
The images, showing marks on the ground and impact craters, suggest fire from multiple rocket launchers, the US state department says.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte says sending out an international military force to secure the site of the downed Malaysian Airlines jet in eastern Ukraine is unrealistic
The pictures also indicate the separatists are using heavy artillery supplied by Russia, it added.
Russia denies supplying the rebels with heavy weaponry or firing across the frontier with Ukraine.
The rebels have been accused of shooting flight MH17 down by mistake, but Russia blames the Ukrainian military, an allegation Ukraine denies.
The crash site has yet to be properly investigated and some bodies have still not been recovered. An international push is under way to get the site secured.
However, Mark Rutte, speaking to reporters in The Hague, said: “Getting the military upper hand for an international mission in this area is, according to our conclusion, not realistic.”
He said it would be “such a provocation to the separatists that it could destabilize the situation”.
Mark Rutte said all options were being looked at. The Netherlands, Australia and Malaysia had been considering a joint operation.
Dutch experts on Sunday cancelled plans to head to the site after international officials said fighting in the region was still going on.
“We can’t take the risk,” said Alexander Hug, of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
There are still plans for Australia and the Netherlands to deploy 49 police officers, following a deal struck by Malaysia with the rebels to allow international police at the site.
“Our objective is to get in, get cracking and to get out,” Australian PM Tony Abbott said.
The eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk have been gripped by heavy fighting as government forces try to retake rebel strongholds.
Aside from the fighting in Horlivka, shelling was also reported close to the MH17 crash site, near the town of Grabove, on Sunday.
Rebels have prevented journalists going to the site and Ukrainian government forces are said to be nearby.
A total of 227 coffins containing the remains of the victims have been sent for identification to the Netherlands, which is leading the crash investigation.
The first MH17 victim has been identified, though officials did not reveal any details.
Officials say the exact number of bodies already collected will be determined only after forensic experts have completed their examination.
Russia said on Sunday it had set up its own team of experts to investigate the plane crash, according to RIA Novosti agency.
The US State Department says it has evidence that Russia has fired artillery across the border targeting Ukrainian military positions.
Russia also intends “to deliver heavier and more powerful multiple rocket launchers” to pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, the US State Department said.
Russia has frequently denied sending any rocket launchers into Ukraine.
The US comment comes a week after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine, with the rebels widely accused of shooting it down.
The US State Department says it has evidence that Russia has fired artillery across the border targeting Ukrainian military positions
Multinational efforts to find the cause of the crash are under way, led by the Netherlands which lost 193 of its citizens. All 298 people on board the flight died in the crash.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte has announced 40 unarmed military police are being sent to the crash site as part of efforts to find the last MH17 victims.
He said there would be more people working on the crash site and his government was looking at ways to make it more secure.
The US, which has repeatedly accused Russia of fuelling separatist sentiment in eastern Ukraine, says it believes that rebels shot down flight MH17 with a Russian-provided SA-11 Buk surface-to-air missile, probably by mistake.
Leading rebels in eastern Ukraine have given conflicting accounts of whether they had control of a Buk launcher at the time the plane was downed.
State department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters on Thursday the US had evidence derived from “human intelligence information” showing Russia firing artillery into eastern Ukraine.
She said the US would not provide further details so as not to compromise sources and methods of intelligence collection.
Earlier on Thursday, the EU said it was adding 15 people and 18 entities to the list of sanctions against Russia and Ukraine.
It comes as two more planes carrying the remains of some of the passengers and crew of flight MH17 arrived in the Netherlands for forensic identification at a barracks south of the Dutch city of Hilversum.
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Air Algerie flight AH 5017 crashed on July 24 en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board, an Algerian aviation official said.
There were few clear indications of what might happened to the aircraft, or whether there were casualties, but Burkino Faso Transport Minister Jean Bertin Ouedrago said it asked to change route at 01:38 GMT because of a storm in the area.
“I can confirm that it has crashed,” the Algerian official told Reuters, declining to be identified or give any details about what had happened to the aircraft on its way north.
Almost half of the passengers were French citizens, an airline official said.
“Currently we have no news of flight AH5017. Thank you”
Air Algerie flight AH 5017 crashed on July 24 en route from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to Algiers with 110 passengers on board
Two French fighter jets based in the region have been dispatched to try to locate the airliner along its probable route, a French army spokesman said. Niger security sources said planes were flying over the border region with Mali to search for the flight.
Algeria’s state news agency APS said authorities lost contact with flight AH 5017 an hour after it took off from Burkina Faso, but other officials gave differing accounts of the times of contact, adding to confusion about the plane’s fate.
Swiftair, the private Spanish company that owns the plane, confirmed it had lost contact with the MD-83 operated by Air Algerie, which it said was carrying 110 passengers and six crew.
A diplomat in the Malian capital Bamako said that the north of the country – which lies on the plane’s likely flight path – was struck by a powerful sandstorm overnight.
An Air Algerie representative in Burkina Faso, Kara Terki, told a news conference that all the passengers on the plane were in transit, either for Europe, the Middle East or Canada.
Kara Terki said the passenger list included: 50 French, 24 Burkinabe, eight Lebanese, four Algerians, two from Luxembourg, one Belgian, one Swiss, one Nigerian, one Cameroonian, one Ukrainian and one Romanian.
Lebanese officials said there were at least 10 Lebanese citizens on the flight.
A spokeswoman for SEPLA, Spain’s pilots union, said the six crew were from Spain. She could not give any further details.
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At least 48 people died after a passenger plane crashed in Taiwan’s Penghu archipelago, amid stormy weather in the area.
The plane, carrying 58 people, crashed into buildings after a failed attempt to land at Magong airport.
The other 10 people on board were hurt. Two French nationals were among the dead, officials said. No crew members are thought to have survived.
Family members were flying to Penghu on Thursday, Taiwan media said.
Minister of Transportation Yeh Kuang-shih and aviation officials also flew to the island to start an investigation into the disaster, Taiwan’s CNA news agency said.
The ATR-72 TransAsia Airways plane crashed as it flew from Taiwan’s southern city of Kaohsiung to Penghu, a popular tourist destination in the Taiwan Strait.
Magong is the main city in Penghu, which consists of a main island and several smaller islands off the west coast of Taiwan.
TransAsia Airways plane, carrying 58 people, crashed into buildings after a failed attempt to land at Magong airport (photo NY Times)
It was Taiwan’s first fatal air crash in more than a decade and came after Typhoon Matmo struck, bringing torrential rain and high wind.
The plane crashed on its second attempt to land at the airport. It lost contact with controllers after telling them it was going around again. The aircraft then came down in Xixi village outside the airport.
Images late on Wednesday night showed firefighters dousing flames at the scene and and using torches to rescue injured passengers.
Five Penghu residents were injured on the ground but by Thursday morning all had been discharged from hospital, the Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) said.
Official said visibility at the time of the crash was one mile and within acceptable standards for landing, despite the storm.
Airline representative Phoebe Lu told the Associated Press news agency that TransAsia suspected that typhoon weather had caused the crash but was awaiting the results of the investigation.
But Jean Shen, director of the CAA, said nine flights travelled that route between 14:00 and 19:00 on Wednesday.
“The weather reports showed it was totally OK for landing. We can not say for sure what went wrong at this point,” Reuters news agency quoted her as saying.
The transport minister, meanwhile, addressed questions over why the flight was allowed to go ahead.
“Many people were questioning why the plane took off in typhoon weather… according to my understanding the meteorology data showed that it met the aviation safety requirements,” Yeh Kunag-shis said.
TransAsia, a private airline, flies domestic routes in Taiwan and international routes in North and South-East Asia. The airline has apologized and says it will compensate relatives of those on board.
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Two jets carrying bodies from crashed Malaysia Airlines plane have landed in the Netherlands where a day of mourning for the 298 victims has been declared.
Experts there will begin to identify the dead, most of whom were Dutch.
Pro-Russian rebels have been widely accused of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane on July 17.
UK government sources say intelligence shows rebels deliberately tampered with evidence, moving bodies and placing parts from other planes in the debris.
As fighting continued in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, officials in Kiev said that two aircraft, thought to be military jets, had been downed just 20 miles from the MH17 crash site.
The officials had no information on the cause of the crashes, or the fate of the pilots.
Planes carrying bodies from crashed MH17 flight have landed in the Netherlands (photo EPA)
US intelligence officials had earlier released evidence to the media that they said showed the separatists’ involvement in bringing down flight MH17.
Rebels have also been accused of exaggerating the number of bodies transported from the crash site to the town of Kharkiv on Tuesday.
They had claimed 282 bodies had been loaded on to a train, but experts said only 200 could be verified.
The two military planes – one Dutch and the other Australian – carrying the first 40 coffins landed at Eindhoven air base to be met by members of the Dutch royal family, PM Mark Rutte and hundreds of victims’ relatives.
Churches around the Netherlands rang their bells for five minutes before the planes landed.
A fleet of hearses was standing by to convey the bodies to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks south of the city of Hilversum for identification.
PM Mark Rutte said that process could take months.
Earlier, the coffins had been slowly loaded on to the planes by a military guard of honor at Kharkiv airport in eastern Ukraine.
Ambassadors, officials and soldiers gathered to see off the planes.
Australian government envoy Angus Houston said the ceremony was intended to give the victims the “respect and dignity they deserve” after a “tragedy of unspeakable proportions”.
In a separate process, the “black box” flight-data recorders from MH17 have arrived in the UK, where they will be examined at the headquarters of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough.
A rebel militiaman told Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that he had been ordered to the crash site minutes after the MH17 plane had gone down.
He said his commanders had told him: “We’ve just shot down one of the Kiev fascists’ planes.”
The militiaman said: “We thought we were looking for baled-out Ukrainian pilots but instead we found dead civilians.”
Earlier in Washington, officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence presented evidence they had gathered on the involvement of the rebels.
“It’s a solid case that it’s an SA-11 [missile] that was fired from eastern Ukraine under conditions the Russians helped create,” said the officials, who requested that their names not be reported.
They said the “most plausible explanation” for the shooting down of the plane was that rebels mistook it for another aircraft.
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A TransAsia Airways passenger plane has crashed after a failed emergency landing in Taiwan, killing more than 40 people, local officials say.
TransAsia Airways flight crashed near Magong airport on the outlying Penghu island, reports said.
There were a total of 54 passengers and four crew on board, Taiwan’s CNA news agency reported.
The TransAsia Airways passenger plane has crashed after a failed emergency landing in Taiwan
Aviation officials said flight GE222 aborted its initial landing and then crashed, local media reported.
Fifty-one people were feared dead and seven were injured, CNA reported, citing fire department officials.
Firefighters and other emergency personnel are still attempting to rescue those on board.
Local firefighters say the plane did not reach the airport landing strip, but crashed nearby, losing contact with flight radars for a few moments before the crash.
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The first remains recovered from Malaysia Airlines MH17 plane that crashed in Ukraine last week are to be flown to the Netherlands for identification.
The Netherlands is holding a day of mourning for the 298 killed in the July 17 crash, 193 of whom were Dutch.
Meanwhile, US intelligence officials say pro-Russian rebels shot down the jet by mistake, but they have not found any direct link to Russia.
The plane crashed in a rebel-held area after apparently being hit by a rocket.
A refrigerated train carriage carrying about 200 bodies from the crash site arrived in the government-held city of Kharkiv on Tuesday.
About 50 coffins were laid out at the airport on Wednesday morning in preparation for the flight.
Investigators said they would continue to search the crash site for more bodies.
The first remains recovered from MH17 plane that crashed in Ukraine are to be flown to the Netherlands for identification
The first bodies from flight MH17 are due to arrive in Eindhoven at 16:00 local time after a farewell ceremony attended by Ukrainian officials in Kharkiv.
Members of the Dutch royal family and PM Mark Rutte will meet the plane.
The bodies are then due to be taken to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks for identification.
Mark Rutte said that process could take months.
In a separate process, the “black box” flight-data recorders from MH17 have been handed to Dutch authorities by Malaysian officials.
The devices will be sent to Farnborough in the UK for analysis.
In Washington, officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence presented evidence they had gathered on the involvement of the rebels.
“It’s a solid case that it’s an SA-11 [missile] that was fired from eastern Ukraine under conditions the Russians helped create,” said the officials, who requested that their names not be reported.
They said the “most plausible explanation” for the shooting down of the plane was that rebels mistook it for another aircraft.
The evidence they presented included:
- Satellite images of a facility allegedly used to train rebels near the Russian city of Rostov
- Other images purportedly showing a surface-to-air missile launcher in the area
- Analysis of voice recordings of pro-Russian rebels apparently admitting bringing the airliner down
- Photos and messages from social-media sites pointing to rebel involvement
The US and other nations have accused rebels of blocking access to the crash site, putting valuable evidence at risk.
In Australia, former President Bill Clinton paid tribute to six HIV/Aids campaigners who were on board MH17.
Bill Clinton said their lives had been “overpowering in their contribution to a shared future”.
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The bodies of victims from crashed MH17 plane have been moved out of the rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine.
The remains, carried by train, have arrived in the city of Kharkiv, outside rebel territory.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in an area held by pro-Russia rebels on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.
Meanwhile, international monitors say parts of the wreckage have been changed and cut into since they first saw them.
MH17 remains have arrived in the city of Kharkiv, outside rebel territory
Western nations say there is growing evidence the rebels shot down the plane using a missile supplied by Russia.
Russia has suggested Ukrainian government forces are to blame.
Most of those who died in the crash of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 were Dutch, and the first remains are due to be flown from Kharkiv to the Dutch city of Eindhoven on Wednesday.
From there, they will go to a facility in the Dutch city of Hilversum for identification – a process which could take months, Dutch PM Mark Rutte warned.
The bodies will be kept in refrigerated rail carriages in Kharkiv while they are being prepared for transport, a spokeswoman for the Dutch forensics team has said.
Countries directly affected by the disaster, such as the Netherlands, Australia, and the UK, have been concerned that the crash site was not properly sealed off, with the risk that valuable evidence could be put at risk.
European Union foreign ministers are meeting to consider further sanctions against Russia over its alleged backing for the rebels – something Moscow denies.
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Sky News reporter Colin Brazier has admitted he made errors to handle Malaysia Airlines passengers’ belongings at the MH17 crash site in Ukraine.
Writing in The Guardian, Colin Brazier said the crash site was unchecked and he was “free to walk around at will”.
However, the journalist called his “gaffe” a “serious error of judgement” and said he cried on-air after seeing a child’s flask.
More than 100 people complained to UK’s media watchdog Ofcom after Colin Brazier’s live Sunday lunchtime broadcast.
The complaints are currently being assessed before the broadcasting regulator decides whether to launch an investigation.
The report showed Colin Brazier picking up items from an open suitcase.
Colin Brazier has admitted he made errors to handle Malaysia Airlines passengers’ belongings at the MH17 crash site in Ukraine (photo Sky News)
He dropped them back into the luggage saying “we shouldn’t really be doing this I suppose, really”.
A Sky News spokesperson said both Colin Brazier and the station “apologize profusely for any offence caused”.
Writing his version of events following a vociferous backlash on social media, Colin Brazier said other journalists were acting on the freedom they had on the crash site, and “foolishly took that as a precedent”.
Colin Brazier said the moment he realized he was doing something wrong “came too late” and just after the moment when he began crying, which was not picked up on poor quality replays of his report on the internet.
“At the weekend I got things wrong. If there was someone to apologize to in person, I would,” he wrote in his article.
Colin Brazier added his on-air apology was “only selectively quoted by those determined to see what I did as a powerful example of journalistic vulturism”.
He said in a live and open-ended item from Ukraine, there was “no obvious frame of reference” but the crew chose “to avoid pointing a live camera anywhere a corpse might be seen”.
Colin Brazier described how he reported from the site of another air disaster at Lake Constance in 2004, where “within hours police had sealed off a sterile area and no journalists were allowed in, while forensic investigators and recovery teams went in”.
He described the Ukraine site as a lawless warzone where journalists where not kept at bay.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed over rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on July 17. All 298 people on board were killed.
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Scammers are using Malaysia Airlines plane crash in east Ukraine to spread objectionable links, online security experts have warned.
Links to different websites disguised as a video of the Malaysia Airlines crash were posted on a Facebook page dedicated to one victim.
Many tweets have been posted that appeared to report the disaster, but actually included spam links.
One expert said the social networks should take more responsibility for removing them.
Scammers are using Malaysia Airlines plane crash in east Ukraine to spread objectionable links
A Facebook community page dedicated to Liam Sweeney, one of the 298 people victims, uses his name and picture.
Its sole post is a link entitled: “Video Camera Caught the moment plane MH17 Crash over Ukraine”.
Twitter’s rules state: “User abuse and technical abuse are not tolerated on Twitter.com, and may result in permanent suspension.
“Any accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be subject to permanent suspension: If you post multiple unrelated updates to a topic using #, trending or popular topic, or promoted trend.”
Many previous disasters had been exploited in a similar way and that it expected to see further exploitation of the MH17 crash.
Ukrainian separatists have handed over two flight-data recorders from the downed MH17 plane to Malaysian experts.
The handover came hours after the UN Security Council voted unanimously to demand immediate international access to the crash site.
EU foreign ministers will consider more sanctions against Russia on Tuesday.
The Malaysian Airlines passenger jet crashed last Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.
Western nations say there is growing evidence that flight MH17 was hit by a Russian-supplied missile fired by rebels, but Russia has suggested Ukrainian government forces are to blame.
EU foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels, are thought likely to discuss expanding the list of Russian officials targeted by sanctions, but have so far steered clear of targeting whole sectors of the Russian economy.
Both the EU and the US imposed sanctions on Moscow following its annexation of Crimea and the outbreak of hostilities in eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian separatists have handed over two flight-data recorders from the downed MH17 plane to Malaysian experts
Experts say the “black boxes” will reveal the exact time of the incident and the altitude and precise position of the aircraft.
They should also contain the cockpit voice recorder, which it is hoped will provide clues as to what the cause of the crash was.
The head of the Malaysian delegation at the handover in Donetsk told reporters that the recorders were “in good condition”.
The handover followed talks between the rebel commander and self-styled Prime Minister of the Donetsk People’s Republic Alexander Borodai and the Malaysian PM Najib Razak, according to a statement of Najib Razak.
The Malaysian prime minister also said those talks led to the rebels agreeing to allow the bodies to be transported to Kharkiv and international investigators to access the area.
“In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel and that I feel,” he said.
“But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome.”
Pro-Russian rebels allowed a freight train carrying the bodies of 282 passengers to be moved from a town near the crash site to Donetsk on Monday.
The Malaysian experts and a Dutch delegation are travelling with the train to the city of Kharkiv, where it is expected to arrive later on Tuesday.
From there, the bodies will be prepared for transfer by air to the Netherlands where forensic experts will evaluate and identify them.
Meanwhile a UN resolution, proposed by Australia, was passed calling for a “full, thorough and independent international investigation” into the downing of the plane over Grabove on July 17.
It also demanded that those responsible “be held to account and that all states co-operate fully with efforts to establish accountability”.
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The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding access to Malaysia Airlines plane crash site in the rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine.
Pro-Russian separatists earlier allowed bodies from the Malaysia Airlines crash to be taken to the city of Kharkiv and handed over to international experts.
Western nations say the rebels struck MH17 with a Russian-supplied missile, killing all 298 people on board.
Meanwhile, the main rebel-held city of Donetsk has seen heavy clashes.
Eyewitnesses say there is violence near the city’s airport and the railway station.
The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding access to Malaysia Airlines plane crash site in the rebel-held area in eastern Ukraine (photo RT)
The fighting in eastern Ukraine erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.
The UN resolution, proposed by Australia, calls for a “full, thorough and independent international investigation” into the downing of the plane over Grabove on July 17.
It also demands that those responsible “be held to account and that all states co-operate fully with efforts to establish accountability”.
“We owe it to the victims and their families to determine what happened and who was responsible,” Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told the meeting in New York.
All 15 council members, including Russia, voted in favor.
However, Russia’s envoy, Vitaly Churkin, warned that the Security Council should avoid jumping to conclusions about the cause of the crash.
UK’s PM David Cameron earlier said there was strong evidence that pro-Russian separatists shot down the plane with an anti-aircraft system known as Buk.
Russia denied allegations that it had supplied such missiles or “any other weapons” to the rebels.
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Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have allowed Dutch investigators to examine bodies from the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane at a railway station.
The three Dutch experts said the train might leave the town of Torez later.
All 298 people on board flight MH17 died when it crashed over the rebel-held area on July 17. The US and other nations say there is growing evidence of Russian complicity in the crash.
Meanwhile, heavy fighting is reported in the main rebel-held city of Donetsk.
The clashes – involving heavy weapons – are continuing near the city’s airport and the railway station, eyewitnesses say.
At least three civilians were reported killed, and one multi-storey building was seen on fire.
The Dutch experts from the Disaster Victims Identification team are the first international investigators to arrive in the region where the Boeing 777 went down after being reportedly hit by a missile.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) have been at the accident site, but their access to the wreckage was limited by the rebels.
Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine have allowed Dutch investigators to examine bodies from the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane at a railway station
On Monday, the Dutch experts examined some of the 196 bodies kept in refrigerator wagons in Torez, some 9 miles away from the crash site.
“I think the storage of the bodies is of good quality,” team leader Peter van Leit said after the inspection.
The investigators added that they had urged the rebels to allow the train to leave.
Correspondents in Torez said the smell of decay emanating from the carriages was overwhelming.
The Dutch experts also later visited the crash site, where some passengers’ remains were still lying in bags exposed to summer heat.
Russia’s media fears MH17 will shape future diplomacy.
“The situation surrounding the Malaysian Boeing 777 shot down over Ukraine is becoming a key factor in world politics,” says business daily Kommersant.
However, Russian liberal thrice-weekly Novaya Gazeta diverts from the party line today: “There is practically no doubt that the airliner was shot down by the separatists.”
Ukraine’s press continues to accuse Moscow. Popular tabloid Segodnya leads with “Ukraine has enough evidence of Russia’s guilt”.
Russian and Ukraine media agree on the further souring of relations.
Business daily Capital says: “The downing of the airliner in Donbas turns the regional conflict into an international one. Peace will not come soon.”
A Malaysian team of 133 officials and experts, comprising of search and recovery personnel, forensics experts, technical and medical experts has arrived in Ukraine. A separate UK group of air accident investigators is also there.
However, the government in Kiev says it has been unable to establish a safe corridor to the crash site.
There has been international outcry over the way rebels have handled the situation, delaying access to the site and allowing untrained volunteers to comb through the area.
The rebels have said they will hand over MH17’s flight recorders to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), but the US state department has accused rebels of tampering with other potential evidence.
Heavy machinery could be seen moving plane debris at the crash site on Sunday.
Russia again on Monday denied allegations it supplied the separatists with an anti-aircraft system known as Buk that was allegedly used to shoot down flight MH17.
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According to new reports, the remains of up to 196 people from Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in Ukraine have been loaded on to refrigerated rail wagons, to be taken to an unknown destination.
All 298 people on board of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 died when a missile reportedly hit the plane on July 17.
Western countries have criticized pro-Russian rebels controlling the area for restricting access to the crash site.
The rebels say they will hand MH17’s flight recorders to the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Ukraine’s government and the rebels have accused each other of shooting down the Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
The remains of up to 196 people from Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash have been loaded on to refrigerated rail wagons, to be taken to an unknown destination
The US state department said there had been multiple reports of bodies and aircraft parts being removed, and potential evidence tampered with, by rebels.
Heavy machinery could be seen moving plane debris around at the crash site, AP news agency reported.
Separately, UK broadcaster Sky News apologized after one of its presenters was shown going through items in a suitcase belonging to one of the passengers.
Fighting is reportedly continuing in eastern Ukraine between the separatist rebels and government forces in a conflict which erupted in April and is believed to have claimed more than 1,000 lives.
The freight train with its five sealed wagons has been standing at Torez railway station, 9 miles from the crash site.
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) mission in the region said in a tweet it had been told that 196 bodies were on the rail wagons in Torez.
An OSCE team was allowed to see three of the wagons and observed “tagged body bags”, without being able to verify the figures. It’s not clear where the train will take the bodies.
In a mark of respect to the dead, Malaysia Airline says it is retiring the MH17 flight number. The airline did the same for MH370, which disappeared in March with 239 passengers and crew on board.
Russia denies any involvement in the downing of the Malaysian plane, and has rejected Western allegations that it is stoking the Ukraine conflict.
The passenger list released by Malaysia Airlines shows the plane was carrying 193 Dutch nationals (including one with dual US nationality), 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons (including one with dual South African nationality), four Germans, four Belgians, three from the Philippines, and one each from Canada and New Zealand.
Memorial services and vigils have been held in many countries, including Australia, Malaysia and the Netherlands.
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Russia has been asked by the western countries to put pressure on Ukrainian rebels to allow unhindered access to the site of Thursday’s Malaysia Airlines crash.
Dutch PM Mark Rutte said he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin that time was “running out” to show he could help. Most crash victims were Dutch.
The US and Britain also told Russia full access to the area was needed.
Memorial services are being held in Australia, with more planned in other countries later on Sunday.
In Melbourne, a special mass was held for the HIV experts and campaigners on the flight who were making their way to the city for an international AIDS conference.
The passenger list released by Malaysia Airlines shows the plane was carrying 193 Dutch nationals (including one with dual US nationality), 43 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons (including one with dual South African nationality), 4 Germans, 4 Belgians, three from the Philippines, and one each from Canada and New Zealand.
Both Ukraine and the pro-Russian rebels have accused each other of shooting down the Boeing 777, which was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Flight MH17 was reportedly hit by a missile over a rebel-held area in Donetsk region on Thursday. All 298 people on board died.
International observers have had their movements around the crash site restricted by pro-Russia militiamen.
Russia has been asked by the western countries to put pressure on Ukrainian rebels to allow unhindered access to the site of Malaysia Airlines crash
The US said it was “deeply concerned” at the limited access to the site.
“It is critical that there be a full, credible, and unimpeded international investigation as quickly as possible,” said a statement from the State Department in Washington.
Ukraine has accused militiamen at the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash of trying to destroy evidence of an “international crime”.
In a news conference on Saturday, Mark Rutte said he had had an “intense” phone call with Vladimir Putin.
“I told him <<Time is running out for you to show the world that you have good intentions>>,” Mark Rutte said.
He added that Dutch people were “furious” at pictures of bodies being carried across the open country, and called on Vladimir Putin “to show that he will do what is expected of him and will exert his influence”.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel also spoke to Vladimir Putin on Saturday, urging his co-operation.
Monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) are at the crash site.
OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said access had improved compared to Friday and that the monitors were seeing parts of the terrain they had not seen before, but that their movements were still being restricted.
The monitors are there to observe the site ahead of the arrival of international investigators.
Tougher EU sanctions against Russia will be needed if Moscow does not change its “approach” to the downing of the plane, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has indicated.
David Cameron said the EU should stand up for its principles, amid claims Russia-backed rebels were involved.
PM David Cameron and his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott agreed the two countries would apply “further pressure” at the UN Security Council “for swift and unhindered access” to the site, Cameron’s office said.
US Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the disaster in a phone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
John Kerry made clear that the US was “very concerned” over reports that bodies and debris from the site had been removed or tampered with, the state department said.
On Friday, President Barack Obama said Malaysia Airlines plane had been destroyed by a missile fired from a rebel area, and that insurgents would not be capable of carrying out such an attack without Moscow’s support.
Russia denies any involvement and has rejected Western allegations that it is stoking the Ukraine conflict.
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President Barack Obama has said a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area in east Ukraine brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
Malaysia Airlines plane crashed on July 17, killing all 298 people on board.
Barack Obama confirmed one American was among the plane’s victims.
Confirmed death toll so far:
Netherlands: 189
Malaysia: 44 (including 15 crew)
Malaysia Airlines plane crashed in rebel-held Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board
Australian: 27
Indonesia: 12
UK: 10
Germany: 4
Belgium: 4
Philippines: 3
Canada: 1
New Zealand: 1
US: 1
Unverified: 2
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A surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area in east Ukraine brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, President Barack Obama has said during a press conference.
The plane crashed on Thursday, killing all 298 people on board.
Barack Obama called the attack “an outrage of unspeakable proportions”, saying he would ensure “the truth is out”.
The US and Russia clashed at the UN Security Council, with Russia’s envoy putting the blame on Ukraine for its army’s attacks on eastern areas.
Up to 20 international observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) reached the crash scene near the village of Grabovo on Friday.
However, Swiss Ambassador to the OSCE Thomas Greminger said the team did not get full access and were stopped by “local illegal armed groups”.
The Boeing 777 was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. It fell between Krasni Luch in Luhansk region and Shakhtarsk in the neighboring region of Donetsk.
Latest figures released by Malaysia Airlines show the plane was carrying 189 Dutch nationals, 27 Australians, 44 Malaysians (including 15 crew), 12 Indonesians and 10 Britons, along with a number of other nationalities.
President Barack Obama has said a surface-to-air missile fired from a rebel-held area in east Ukraine brought down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17
Confirming one American was among the plane’s victims, Barack Obama said: “Evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from an area that is controlled by Russian-backed separatists inside of Ukraine.”
Thepresident said in a briefing at the White House: “I think it’s important for us to recognize that this outrageous event underscored that it is time for peace and security to be restored in Ukraine.
“Violence and conflict inevitably lead to unforeseen consequences.”
Barack Obama called for an immediate ceasefire in eastern Ukraine. He demanded that full access be granted to investigators and that evidence should not be tampered with.
He said: “This was a global tragedy… The eyes of the world are on eastern Ukraine, and we are going to make sure that the truth is out.”
Barack Obama said it was up to Russia to stop the flow of heavy armaments and fighters into Ukraine.
Earlier at the UN, US envoy Samantha Power said the US could not rule out that Russians had helped the separatists fire the missile.
Samantha Power added: “President Putin has committed on several occasions to working towards dialogue and peace, and every single time he has broken that commitment.
“Russia can end this war. Russia must end this war.”
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said: “Pressure should not be brought on this investigation, trying to prejudge its outcome with broad statements and insinuations that are unjustified.”
He said the Ukrainian military was responsible for “punitive operations on civilian targets and infrastructure, with dozens of civilians killed”, saying the attacks must be stopped as soon as possible.
Vitaly Churkin also criticized the US, which he said had “pushed Ukraine to escalate the crisis and passed the blame on to Russia”.
He also questioned why the Ukrainian aviation authorities had not closed the air space earlier.
The OSCE said its team spent 75 minutes at the site but its movement was restricted and it had not been able to seal off the area or secure a corridor to allow access for investigators.
OSCE spokesman Michael Bociurkiw said it discovered no information about the plane’s flight recorder and it was unclear who was in charge.
The rebels have accused the Ukrainian government of downing the airliner.
However, Ukraine called the disaster an “act of terrorism”. Ukrainian authorities released what they say are intercepted phone conversations that proved the plane was shot down by separatists.
Ukraine accuses Russia of aiding the rebels and supplying them with advanced weapons.
MH17 is the second disaster suffered by Malaysia Airlines this year.
Flight MH370 disappeared en route from Malaysia to China on March 8 and has still not been found.
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Malaysia Airlines shares closed down 11% in Malaysia following the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine on route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.
Some Asian stock markets also ended the day lower on fears the crash may intensify political tensions between the West, Ukraine and Russia.
This is the second catastrophe to hit the Malaysian airline this year after flight MH370 disappeared in March.
Questions are being asked about whether the carrier can now survive.
Malaysia Airlines shares closed down 11 percent in Malaysia following the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine (photo AP)
“Even if this is pure coincidence, it’s never happened in history that a flag carrier has seen two wide-body aircraft disappearing in a few months,” said Bertrand Grabowski, head of aviation at DVB Bank, which acts as a banker to Malaysia Airlines.
“The support from the government needs to be more explicit and perhaps more massive.”
Malaysia Airlines has been losing money for many years and its market value has fallen by more than 40% in the past nine months.
Reports suggest that state investment company Khazanah Nasional, the major shareholder in Malaysia Airlines, is looking to take the carrier private.
Khazanah Nasional has invested more than $1 billion into the airline in recent years and had previously indicated that a major restructuring was on the cards.
Analysts said further investment was needed if Malaysia Airlines was to survive in the short term.
Prominent AIDS expert Joep Lange was among up to 100 scientists, activists, researchers and health workers who died in the Malaysia Airlines MH17 crash in Ukraine.
They are thought to have been heading to this year’s international AIDS conference in Australia.
Prof. Joep Lange was a prominent and popular researcher and a former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS).
The IAS representatives said they would have “truly lost a giant”.
Delegates, who have already arrived at the conference in Australia said they were in “total shock”.
More than 14,000 scientists, campaigners and politicians are meeting at the AIDS 2014 conference, which starts in Melbourne at the weekend.
Prof. Joep Lange was a prominent and popular researcher and a former president of the International AIDS Society
Joep Lange, was a professor of medicine at the University of Amsterdam, and has been involved in HIV research since the virus first emerged in the 1980s.
He trialed antiretroviral therapies, which have now transformed HIV into a manageable disease.
Prof. Joep Lange also worked on preventing the virus passing from mother to child during pregnancy and labor.
He is described as a leader in his field, and between 2002 and 2004 was the president of the IAS.
Malaysia Airlines plane, carrying 298 people, crashed in rebel-held territory in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.
Prof. Joep Lange’s partner, Jacqueline van Tongeren, was also reportedly on board.
The IAS said the conference would go ahead with “opportunities to reflect and remember those we have lost”.
It added: “The IAS is hearing unconfirmed reports that some of our friends and colleagues were on board the flight and if that is the case this is a truly sad day.
“The IAS has also heard reports that among the passengers was a former IAS president Joep Lange and if that is the case then the HIV/Aids movement has truly lost a giant.”
Another delegate, Glenn Thomas, a media spokesman from the World Health Organization (WHO), was also on board.
WHO spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said: “For the time being we would like to give his family time to grieve.
“We have lost a wonderful person and a great professional. Our hearts are broken. We are all in shock.”
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Malaysia Airlines crash confirmed death toll so far:
Netherlands: 189
Malaysia: 44 (including 15 crew)
Australian: 27
Indonesia: 12
UK: 9
Germany: 4
At least 298 people perished when MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine
Belgium: 4
Philippines: 3
Canada: 1
New Zealand: 1
Unverified: 4
Total: 298
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