According to the Telegraph, two Dutch and two Australian specialists have visited the remains of the site where Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 has crashed on July 17. The airplane, which was believed to be shot down by missiles, crashed in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board. So far, Western leaders have suggested that pro-Russian separatists have shot the airplane with a Buk missile launcher, the British news outlet said.
There have been daily attempts to reach the site as fighting between the rebels and the government continues in the area. The small group of investigators had come in in a convoy of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) monitors, BBC reported.
The team had journeyed to the site with extreme caution, as fighting is still ongoing in the cities of Donetsk ad Luhansk, which are just near the crash site. It has been reported that the team took a new but dangerous route to the crash site, as they have passed areas where there's evident of fighting close by. BBC cited a journalist for AFP news agency who had been travelling with the group, who said that they have heard several powerful blasts and also spotted a plume of smoke less than six miles from the crash site.
Meanwhile, it has been known that aviation experts from Russia are in Ukraine and had been hoping to pay a visit to the site.
As for potential remains of the victims, the foreign minister of Australia, Julie Bishop, has expressed belief that up to 80 bodies might have remained at the crash site. The number in question has not been confirmed, but a village council head had somewhat verified that there are at least remains in Ukraine. But for the loved ones of the victims who have yet to bury them, the council head's news is horrifying and sad to hear.
The Telegraph interviewed the head of the village council in Petropavlivka, Natalya Voloshina, whose village is the location where part of the plane fell. She told the British news outlet, "There was some human remains that lay for some days on the edge of the village over there. In the end they disappeared; I think some dogs carried them off."
The father of 28-year-old flight victim Liam Sweeney, Barry, has somewhat summed up the dilemma of trying to resolve a crisis that involves a lot of parties at an area that is being taken over by hostile forces.
"Everybody's been lovely. Cameron has promised they will do all they can to make sure everything's all right. But obviously not everything's in his hands, because it's worldwide, really - there's 17 nations involved. We need to get them home respectfully and peacefully. The sooner we can get them all back, the better," he said.
