First MH17 victims arrive in Netherlands
Two planes carrying bodies from crashed flight MH17 have landed in the Netherlands where a day of mourning for the 298 victims has been declared.
Experts there will begin to identify the dead, most of whom were Dutch.
Hearses with #MH17 victims coffins leave the tarmac next to the flags of the victim's nations at half-mast. pic.twitter.com/eqcLoegRyd
— Chapman Bell (@Chapmanbell) July 23, 2014
The Netherlands grieves for family and friends they will never see again http://t.co/LBVTfZScwO (Pic:H Hoogte/Corbis) pic.twitter.com/TWgycfCqv1
— The Telegraph (@Telegraph) July 21, 2014
Pro-Russian rebels have been widely accused of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane on 17 July.
UK government sources say intelligence shows rebels deliberately tampered with evidence, moving bodies and placing parts from other planes in the debris.
Ceremony held for #MH17 victims before bodies are flown out of Ukraine http://t.co/bL9zvk29r0 pic.twitter.com/VKNAPmZjWf
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 23, 2014
As fighting continued in eastern Ukraine on Wednesday, officials in Kiev told the BBC that two aircraft, thought to be military jets, had been downed just 35km (20 miles) from the crash site.
Outside the Embassy of the Netherlands in Ukraine. Photo by US Ambassador to Ukraine @GeoffPyatt #MH17 pic.twitter.com/8KdUPaHltV
— US Mission to NATO (@USNATO) July 20, 2014
The officials had no information on the cause of the crashes, or the fate of the pilots.
Pro-Russian separatists probably shot down MH17 "by mistake", no link to Russia found - US intelligence http://t.co/WhY1Gd071a
— BBC Breaking News (@BBCBreaking) July 22, 2014
US intelligence officials had earlier released evidence to the media that they said showed the separatists' involvement in bringing down flight MH17.
Rebels have also been accused of exaggerating the number of bodies transported from the crash site to the town of Kharkiv on Tuesday.
They had claimed 282 bodies had been loaded on to a train, but experts said only 200 could be verified.
US intel officials present latest evidence in downing of Flight MH17: http://t.co/swWJFD2fSn - @LMartinezABC pic.twitter.com/YgwBDcyecf
— ABC News (@ABC) July 23, 2014
The two military planes - one Dutch and the other Australian - carrying the first 40 coffins landed at Eindhoven air base to be met by members of the Dutch royal family, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and hundreds of victims' relatives.
Churches around the Netherlands rang their bells for five minutes before the planes landed, and flags of all the nations affected by the disaster have been flying at half mast.
In a solemn ceremony, the coffins were slowly loaded into a fleet of waiting hearses.
Why did so many people share graphic images of #MH17 crash site on Twitter? http://t.co/8gKpVONR5F
— The Guardian (@guardian) July 23, 2014
The bodies are being taken to the Korporaal van Oudheusden barracks south of the city of Hilversum for identification. Rutte said that process could take months.
The hearses then moved off in a procession with a motorcycle escort.
Earlier, the coffins had been loaded on to the planes by a military guard of honour at Kharkiv airport in eastern Ukraine.
Ambassadors, officials and soldiers gathered to see off the planes.
MH17: Day of mourning in Netherlands as bodies arrive http://t.co/sNKnvAV6yz pic.twitter.com/inQzZTSQVO
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) July 23, 2014
Australian government envoy Angus Houston said the ceremony was intended to give the victims the "respect and dignity they deserve" after a "tragedy of unspeakable proportions".
In a separate process, the "black box" flight-data recorders from MH17 have arrived in the UK, where they will be examined at the headquarters of the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in Farnborough.
Tough times do not last, tough people do #staystrong pic.twitter.com/dcYYYzHpqT
— Malaysia Airlines (@MAS) July 23, 2014
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