Grief and anger mount as MH17 bodies are finally taken home

The remains of the victims of Flight MH17 will be handed over to the Netherlands, while Malaysia will receive the doomed plane’s black boxes after Kuala Lumpur struck a breakthrough deal with pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine on Monday. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said he had agreed with the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Alexander Borodai, that the remains of 282 people will be moved by train to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv and handed over. He also added that a Malaysian team would be handed the two black boxes at approximately 9 pm Ukraine time (1800 GMT) on Monday, and that independent international investigators would “be guaranteed safe access” to the crash site to begin their probe. The doomed flight was downed, likely by a missile, on Thursday in a region controlled by Ukrainian separatists. Access to the crash site has been hampered by armed militants, prompting global condemnation. [caption id=“attachment_1627711” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Bodies from the MH17 crash are put in black bags and removed from the site. Associated Press image[/caption] All 298 people aboard the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight were killed with bodies and debris strewn over a wide area. Of the people aboard, 193 were from the Netherlands and 43 from Malaysia, including the 15 crew members. “We need to know what caused the plane to crash, and who was responsible for it, so that justice may be done,” Najib said in a televised statement. He urged “all parties (to) continue to work together to ensure that this agreement is honoured”. He added Malaysia had been working “behind the scenes to establish contact with those in charge of the MH17 crash site”. “That contact has now been made… Tonight, we have established the basis of an agreement,” Najib said, adding that he had earlier spoken to Borodai. A report in New York Times  says that bodies of Dutch nationals would be flown to Amsterdam from Kharkiv. “But before the bodies are put on the flight to the Netherlands, the Dutch police intend to check them all first. The bodies will be unloaded from the train and taken to an inspection center, and then flown out afterward,” the report says. During his statement, the Malaysian premier gave a hint of some of the frustration and anger his government had felt in the aftermath of the plane going down. “In recent days, there were times I wanted to give greater voice to the anger and grief that the Malaysian people feel. And that I feel. But sometimes, we must work quietly in the service of a better outcome,” he said. Under the agreement, six Malaysian members of the recovery team will accompany the train carrying the victims’ remains, which would leave this evening Ukraine time, Najib said. An eyewitness saw the train carrying the bodies pull out of Torez station in eastern Ukraine around the same time as Najib was speaking. The rebels walked next to the train as it began moving towards Kharkiv, NYT reported. “I feel sorry for them. So many kids. So much sorrow,” the New York Times report quoted a rebel as saying. The remains will then be flown to Amsterdam on board a Dutch C130 Hercules, accompanied by the Malaysian team, Najib added. The remains of Malaysian victims would be flown back to Malaysia after “any necessary forensic work”. “I must stress that although agreement has been reached, there remain a number of steps required before it is completed,” Najib said. “There is work still to be done, work which relies on continued communication in good faith.” The United States and Ukraine have alleged that the Boeing 777 was shot out of the skies by a missile system supplied by Moscow to separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine. The rebels have blamed Ukraine for the shooting and Russia has insisted Kiev should be held responsible for the disaster. US President Barack Obama insisted Monday that Russia must force rebels in the region to cooperate, calling chaos at the crash site an “insult” to the victims’ families. Similar reactions were seen from the Dutch who took to social media to express their grief and anger. Dutch social media users were turning profile photos black and tweeting the hashtag #BringThemHome as anger mounted that bodies from flight MH17 hadn’t been repatriated from Ukraine yet. Dutch Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans was one of the first to make his Facebook cover photo black in a sign of mourning. Since then Twitter and Instagram users in the Netherlands and around the world have posted black screens or ribbons, demanding the 298 dead, 193 of them Dutch, be repatriated from war-torn Ukraine. “Making my avatar black in memory of all those in #MH17, to show my support for those affected, and to fight to #BringThemHome,” tweeted one user. “Out of respect for the victims of #MH17 my profile pic will be blacked out until all bodies have been brought home. #BringThemHome,” tweeted another. A Dutch-language website and petition  bringthemhome.nl  has been set up calling for the bodies’ swift repatriation and for the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, to prosecute those responsible for the disaster, believed to have been caused by a rebel missile. There has been growing international outcry that the bodies have not left Ukraine yet. With inputs from AFP