More remains, belongings, wreckage collected at MH17 site

Almost eight months after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down in the Donetsk region in Ukraine, the repatriation mission collected more remains and possessions of victims, as well as pieces of wreckage.

The personal belongings and wreckage parts had been collected by residents. The human remains were found by a small team of Defense and police personnel that visited the crash site on Monday. A police press release said on Monday that the situation in the area is tense; the team members have established good contact with the mayor of Grabovo. They are planning to also visit other villages in the region, together with the Organization for Safety and Cooperation in Europe OVSE and local relief organizations.

The latest finds are set to arrive in the Netherlands on Saturday; the press release said that a similar ceremony will be observed at the Eindhoven army airport, as was reserved for previous repatriations of body parts.

MH17, a Boeing 777-200ER passenger aircraft was shot down on July 17, as it flew over East Ukrainian airspace on its way to Kuala Lumpur. All 283 passengers and 15 crew members were killed; 193 were Dutch citizens. The UN Security Council has since concluded that the aircraft had been shot down with an anti-aircraft missile; it has not been established yet who fired the missile.