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25 July 2014

MH17: Investigators find large part of plane and more bodies at crash site


Updated 25 July 2014, 7:15 AEST

Investigators have found a previously undiscovered part of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 along with more bodies more than a week after the Boeing 777 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
Investigators have found a previously undiscovered part of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 along with more bodies more than a week after the Boeing 777 was shot down over eastern Ukraine.
It is understood the location of the bodies has been marked with a white flag, but investigators do not have the facilities available to handle human remains.
The discovery has highlighted an urgent need for the area to be thoroughly searched, but continued fighting in the surrounding region has hampered the efforts of investigators.
It comes as Australian specialists joined teams in the Netherlands working on the identification of remains from the MH17 crash.
Three Australian officials, including a forensic specialist, have also visited the crash site for the first time, which is now officially the responsibility of Dutch investigators.
The head of the Dutch police mission in Ukraine, Jan Tuinder, said it remains difficult to get access to the crash site.
Pro-Russian rebels have continually caused problems during the investigation, blocking access to the site and harassing recovery workers.
"The process is not over. There are still remains [at the site] and it's very hard to get there because there are some, and I would say it's not politically correct, but there are still some lunatics there," Mr Tuinder said.
"It's very hard for us to get to the remains."
However, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said there had been no incidents overnight, as they were joined by experts from Australia and Malaysia.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott said yesterday 50 federal police officers are on standby to help secure the MH17 crash site.
The officers are in London awaiting approval for an international force to secure the site of the Malaysia Airlines crash.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said she was confident the situation at the crash site would improve in the next few days, as she and her Dutch counterpart met Ukrainian officials in Kiev to coordinate the investigation.
Ms Bishop said she expected the separatists to allow a better international presence at the site.
"Now that the legal framework is in place ... and that Ukraine has transferred legal responsibility to the Netherlands, we feel we'll get more progress from the separatists," she said.
Ms Bishop had a series of meetings overnight and was present as Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko officially handed over responsibility for the crash site to the Dutch.
It came as another 74 bodies were flown into the city of Eindhoven, where they will be examined by forensics experts for identification.
An RAAF C17 and a Dutch military plane were used to transport the second group of bodies to Eindhoven.
A formal reception was once again staged on the tarmac and crowds gathered at the air base's gates to pay their respects as the procession of hearses passed.

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