The final indignity: Bodies of MH17 crash victims tossed into rubbish trucks and carted off to morgue train after three days laying in 85f heat
- Bodies of around 200 victims whose plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine on Thursday decaying on a train
- Corpses were left in the heat for three days before being piled up and driven to refrigerated carriages
- Ukrainian government this morning accused pro-Russian rebels of obstructing the train's departure
- Dutch forensic experts at the scene were promised that the train would leave this afternoon
- Observers report an overwhelming stench of death, as international outrage builds over treatment of the bodies
- Flight MH17 was shot down with surface-to-air missile on Thursday afternoon above rebel-controlled eastern Ukraine
- Fingers have been pointed towards Russia, which is accused of arming rebels and conspiring to destroy evidence
The bodies of almost 200 victims of the MH17 plane disaster were today decaying for a fourth day in a refrigerated train, as Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is facing increasing international outrage over the disaster, hit back at his critics.
Since the bodies of the 298 victims fell from 33,000ft after their plane was struck by a surface-to-air missile, they were left in the open in sweltering heat for three days before being gathered up in bags, bundled on to trucks and driven away.
They were taken from there to the town of Torez, nine miles away, where they have been piled up in four refrigerated train carriages, which have done little to hold back the stench of decay which has already overtaken the corpses amid accusations the rebels are holding up the return of the bodies unnecessarily.
Rebel commanders have reportedly promised that the train will leave this afternoon, but gave no indication of where or whether the bodies would be handed over.
Piled up: Rescue workers are pictured above at the MH17 crash site in Grabovo, eastern Ukraine, moving bodies onto trucks
Row on row: The bagged victims were gathered and piled onto vehicles before being taken to a train station in rebel-held Torez, nine miles from the crash site
Dirty work: Some of the emergency services laid flowers on the bagged-up bodies, as outrage at their treatment intensified across the world
Cleared: Two workers prepare the vehicle for the corpses at a crash site in Grabovo
The chaos surrounding the handling of the crash has compounded the grief of families all around the world bereaved by the crash, who have been left unable to arrange funerals or properly mourn their dead.
Victim's relatives have made emotional appeals for the bodies to be returned as soon as possible, amid reports that the refrigeration in the carriage has only been inconsistently working.
Today relatives of Glenn Thomas, a 49-year-old press officer from Blackpool who was on MH17, begged for the return of his body, saying he and other victims had been 'degraded'.
His nephew, 22-year-old Jordan Withers, said: ‘It's hard one to swallow - that's my uncle and everyone else's loved ones are there and they are being degraded and treated inhumanely.
‘They deserve a lot more respect than that. All we want now is my uncle back. I'm sure every other family who's been involved in this tragedy that's all they want.
‘It needs to be done as quickly and as peacefully as possible.
Tracey Withers, Mr Thomas’s twin sister, added: ‘We just want them to show some compassion and let people in to try and get the bodies back and the personal possessions.
‘We're just hoping we've got personal possessions that can be brought back, anything that was Glenn's - even a pen, a letter, a book - anything that resembles what Glenn would have had.’
The Ukrainian government, based in Kiev, today accused the rebels of holding up the trains at the station. A statement from a government committee investigating the disaster said that the return of the victims has been delayed because because 'terrorists are blocking its exit.'
Aftermath: Black bags are still being taken from the crash site by rescue workers
Horrifying: The international community has expressed outrage over the undignified scene - with swarms of flies buzzing around the train
Horrifying: The bodies are dumped in rubbish trucks by rescue workers. Despite criticism, militiamen insist they are doing everything they can for the dead
However, today the head of a Dutch forensic team on the scene said the train should set off later today where 'we can do our work'.
'The train is going. We don't know the time and we don't know the destination. We got a promise: today it is going.'
'I just want the train to go to a place where we can do our work. And that is in the interest of everybody, especially the families of the victims.'
Meanwhile Russian president Vladimir Putin today hit back at his critics, and accused them of taking advantage of the MH17 disaster to further their own political goals.
Yesterday he said: 'There are already representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk [the rebel factions] working there, as well as representatives of the emergencies ministry of Ukraine and others. But this is not enough.... we need a fully representative group of experts to be working at the site.'
'In the meantime, nobody should and has no right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political goals.
'We repeatedly called upon all conflicting sides to stop the bloodshed immediately and sit down at the negotiating table. I can say with confidence that if military operations were not resumed on June 28 in eastern Ukraine, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.'
It came as rescuers retrieved more bodies today at the crash site in eastern Ukraine, where a total of 251 victims are believed to have been recovered.
The chaotic rescue effort continued ahead of an expected vote later by the U.N. Security Council on a resolution demanding international access to the crash site and a cease-fire around the area.
In the heat: Emergency workers were pictured today at the crash site still struggling to gather together the last bodies of victims
Hauling: Workers are pictured yesterday at the crash site plucking and bagging up remains of victims
Chaotic: Armed guards and investigators were seen yesterday at the crash site as pressure intensified to deal with the bodies approriately
The pressure has been growing on Russian President Vladimir Putin, who the U.S. and others say has backed and armed the rebels, to rein in the insurgents in Ukraine and allow a full-scale investigation. The rebels have been blamed around the world for Thursday's downing of the Boeing 777.
This morning local rescue workers had piled 21 further black body bags by the side of the road at the crash site. It was unclear how quickly they would be transported to refrigerated railcars in the nearby town of Torez, where the other bodies are being held.
On Sunday night, Ukraine's emergency services agency said the total number of bodies found was 251. International indignation over the incident has grown as investigators still only have limited access to the crash site and it remains unclear when and where the victims' bodies will be transported.
A train engineer at the station said the cars' refrigeration had been off overnight but it was not immediately clear why. The cooling system was back up and running this morning, he said.
The shambolic effort to recover the bodies and investigate the crash has aroused international outrage, as pro-Russian rebels have hindered efforts by Ukrainian and international authorities. More than three days after the jetliner crashed, international investigators still had only limited access to the area where the plane landed.
Inside: Investigators wearing face masks were seen walking through the carriage containing the massed corpses
Clambering in: Monitors were allowed in on Monday, as forensics experts were promised the train would be on the move by afternoon
Horror: An inspector from the OSCE international body covers her mouth and nose as she stands in front of the morgue train loaded high with corpses
Stench: A rebel can be seen holding his nose as the door to a carriage containing the heaped bodies is opened
A team of international monitors, including three from the Dutch National Forensic Investigations Team, were scheduled to visit both Torez and the crash site Monday.
That statement came in the wake of comments by the United States on Sunday, presenting what it called 'powerful' evidence that the rebels shot down the plane with a Russian surface-to-air missile.
'Russia is supporting these separatists. Russia is arming these separatists. Russia is training these separatists,' Secretary of State John Kerry said on CNN's `State of the Union.'
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Australia also spoke to Putin by phone late Sunday. European foreign ministers are also meeting in Brussels Tuesday to consider further sanctions on Russia.
Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday said there was a 'growing weight of evidence' suggesting that the rebels shot down the plane.
If that was the case, Cameron said that was 'a direct result of Russia destabilizing a sovereign state, violating its territorial integrity, backing thuggish militias and training and arming them.'
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, whose country lost 28 citizens in the tragedy, said Putin 'said all the right things' during their telephone conversation about ensuring an international investigation into the disaster.
Open access: Locals in Ukraine were yesterday seen walking up and down the train containing the bodies of the MH17 victims
Taking a look: Despite the presence of armed guards, Ukrainian citizens and their families seemed able to walk right up to the carriages
On guard: The rebels were today in control of the area around Torez train station, but onlookers were allowed to walk right up to the carriages
Criticism: Fingers around the world have been pointed at the rebels for their handling of the situation
VLAD HITS BACK: RUSSIAN PRESIDENT PUTIN'S STATEMENT ON MH17 CRASH SITE IN FULL
Speaking out: Russia's Vladimir Putin
Russian president Vladimir Putin has responded to critics the world over in a TV address today.
He has been accused of not using his influence to ensure an orderly investigation at the crash site, controlled by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Attempting to calm the situation, the leader said: 'There are already representatives of Donetsk and Lugansk working there, as well as representatives of the emergencies ministry of Ukraine and others. But this is not enough.
'This task force is not enough. We need more, we need a fully representative group of experts to be working at the site under the guidance of ICAO, the relevant international commission.
'We must do everything to provide security for the international experts on the site of the tragedy.
'We need to do everything to provide its [ICAO commission’s] safety, to provide the humanitarian corridors necessary for its work.
'In the meantime, nobody should and has no right to use this tragedy to achieve their narrowly selfish political goals.
'We repeatedly called upon all conflicting sides to stop the bloodshed immediately and sit down at the negotiating table.
'I can say with confidence that if military operations were not resumed on June 28 in eastern Ukraine, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened.
'I'm now going to try to ensure that as far as Australia humanly can, we insist upon these things happening,' Abbott told Sydney Radio 2GB on Monday.
'The site is being treated more like a garden cleanup than a forensic investigation, and this is completely unacceptable.'
The Ukrainian government said in a statement on its website that a second train with four refrigerator cars had arrived at Torez station. On Monday morning, four rebels armed with automatic weapons were standing guard around the cars.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country lost 192 citizens on the plane, told a news conference that repatriating the bodies was his 'No. 1 priority.'
He said all efforts were aimed at getting the train with the bodies to 'territory controlled by Ukraine' and that a Dutch military plane was being sent to Kharkiv to set up a coordination center.
On Monday, three Dutch members with Holland's National Forensic Investigations Team arrived in Donetsk to join an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe mission.
Michael Bociurkiw, a spokesman for the OSCE, said reports from the group's investigators in Ukraine suggest some bodies were incinerated without a trace.
Incriminating? This covered military equipment - suspected of being the missile launcher that brought down MH17, was seen driving towards the Russian border
Found in the fields: Rebel investigators today seemed to dredge up the plane's black box from the wreckage. It has now been taken to the rebel stronhold of Donetsk
However, despite the move to reduce tension between Russia and the international community, Putin has ordered troops to move closer to the border with Ukraine, even supplying extra armaments and new multiple rocket systems to rebels.
'We're looking at the field where the engines have come down. This was the area which was exposed to the most intense heat. We do not see any bodies here. It appears that some have been vaporized,' he said from the crash site.
Rebel leader Alexander Borodai denied the rebels were trying to tamper with evidence, saying the bodies would be turned over to a team of Malaysian experts he was expecting.
A group of investigators that included Malaysian officials was in Kiev, but said they wouldn't go into rebel-held areas until they get better assurances about security. The Ukrainian government, which has responsibility for the investigation, has also asked for help from the International Civil Aviation Organization - a U.N. body - and Eurocontrol, a European air traffic safety organization.
Borodai insisted the rebels have not interfered with the investigation, and said he would turn over the plane's flight data and cockpit voice recorders - their black boxes - as well.
'The bodies will go nowhere until experts arrive,' Borodai said in the rebel-held city of Donetsk.
But there were clear indications that the rebels were interfering in the investigation.
Lyubov Kudryavets, a worker at the Torez morgue, said that on the evening the plane went down, a resident brought in the bloodied body of a child, about 7 or 8 years old. On Saturday, militiamen came to take away the body away, she said.
'They began to question me: "Where are the fragments of rocket? Where are the fragments from the plane?"' Ms Kudryavets said. 'But I didn't have any wreckage. ... I swear.'
Experts said that even if investigators are granted access now, it might be too late.
'Even without any deliberate attempt at a cover-up, the crash site is already compromised in forensic terms," said Keir Giles, an associate fellow at the Chatham House think tank.
'A reconstruction of the aircraft fuselage and wings would give a picture on how the missile struck and what kind it was. If any aircraft parts have already been removed ... this compromises the objectivity of the investigation.'
Rutte said the Dutch foreign minister was headed to the U.N. to lobby 'to further expand the international coalition pushing for quick recovery of the bodies and getting to the bottom of the terrible events on MH17.'
In the Netherlands, worshippers at church services prayed for the victims, as anger grew over the rebels' hindering of the investigation.
Silene Fredriksz-Hoogzand, whose son, Bryce, and his girlfriend, Daisy Oehlers, were among those killed, said she was appalled their bodies weren't being handed over.
'Mr. Putin, send my children home,' she said, speaking on Sky TV from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport. 'Send them home. Please.'
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