Kyiv, July 21, 2014. The way the body bags with the victims of the MH17 plane crash are stacked in the train and the temperature in the special refrigerator cars at the Torez railway station is satisfactory, reported over the telephone the spokesperson for OSCE Special monitoring mission in Ukraine Michael Bociurkiw during a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
Today is the fourth day that the OSCE Speical monitoring mission works at the crash site, said Bociurkiw. He also noted that there is the total of about 14 people including the three experts from the Netherlands and a number of Ukrainian experts in the field of aviation. The OSCE mission spokesperson metioned that they were standing right next to the two major impact areas. They have already examined the remains of the plane and looked at the piles of personal belongings of the passengers and continued searching for the remains of the victims. “Next we want to go and do the inspection of the area where front end with the cockpit landed,” said Bociurkiw.
Today the Special monitoring mission was able to visit the railway station in Torez. It is about 10-15 km away from the airliner’s crash site and that’s where the bodies of the victims have been taken to be loaded into the special refrigerated railway cars. “The experts checked the three cars with the body bags that were open, they had the flashlight,” said the OSCE official. “They were more or less pleased with how the body bags were stacked and the temperature there, given the weather conditions,” reported Bociurkiw.
The OSCE mission spokesperson reiterated that more than 200 bodies have been found already but the exact number is almost impossible to ascertain.
Commenting on the arrival of an international delegation of 31 experts from Kharkiv, Michael Bociurkiv noted that due to ongoing fight their arrival on the scene may be delayed. He also mention that because of the armed clashes in the conflict zone and the risk that the railway tracks may damaged the departure of the train with the bodies may also be delayed. However, this issue should be resolved today, assured the expert.
Bociurkiw also noted that the work at the crash site has almost stopped – the people who previously have been engaged in searching for dead bodies are almost gone by now. The rebels did not interfere with investigation today, providing the experts with access to alll areas but accompanying them everywhere; they have even set up a guarded perimeter around the impact zone, concluded Bociurkiw.
