Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman on Friday updated reporters on the latest on repatriating the bodies of those killed in the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 incident.

"All four refrigerators with bodies of innocent victims have been unloaded. And information from 6pm (3pm GMT) is that experts already processed 378 packages with remains of innocent victims," he said.

"The team has prepared 227 special coffins to transport bodies to the Netherlands for identification. 180 coffins have been already sent, others will be sent tomorrow morning," he added.

Meanwhile in Kuala Lumpur, hundreds of people, including flight attendants and families of the ill-fated Malaysia Airlines jet, joined a multi-faith prayer service.

Two more planes departed Kharkiv airport on Friday with a further 74 coffins containing bodies and remains from the crash.

All 298 people aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 - most of them Dutch citizens - were killed when the plane went down on 17 July.

AP TELEVISION

Kiev, Ukraine

1. Deputy Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman speaking at news conference

2. Cutaway of journalists

3. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Groysman, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine:

"All four refrigerators with bodies of innocent victims have been unloaded. And information from 6 p.m. (1500 GMT) is that experts already processed 378 packages containing remains of innocent victims."

4. Groysman speaking at news conference

5. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Groysman, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine:

"At this time the team has prepared 227 special coffins to transport bodies to the Netherlands for identification. 180 coffins have been already sent, others will be sent tomorrow morning."

6. Cutaway of cameramen

7. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Volodymyr Groysman, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine:

"Today an important issue is to ratify the signed agreement (between Ukraine and the Netherlands about leading cooperation in the investigation). Then the international police mission can be involved and provide a security for experts who will work on the crash site. Today we concentrated on this."

8. Cutaway of journalists typing

9. Cameraman

10. Groysman speaking at news conference

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

11. Audience and speaker at multi-faith prayer service held by Malaysia Airlines

12. Speaker on stage at multi-faith service

13. Malaysia Airlines flight attendants crying

14. People crying at multi-faith service

15. Screen reading (English) "In memory of MH17 and remembering MH 370"

16. Various of Taoist priests holding Taoist prayer session

17. Malaysia Airlines flight attendants hugging each other

18. SOUNDBITE (English), Shanti (no last name given), a flight attendant at Malaysia Airlines:

"There is no words can express what I am feeling inside towards the families. It's not easy to.... I just want to say so sorry for the loss of their loved ones and I pray that they have peace."

19. People who attended the service talking

20. SOUNDBITE (English), (no name given) whose nephew was on board of the missing MH370:

"How would you feel if your family was on board? That's the same feeling. But we have to pray harder to try better. We are all praying for Malaysia, Malaysia Airlines and everybody in Malaysia, and for all the countries as well."

21. Various of people crying and hugging after the multi faith prayer service

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Emergency workers, police officers and even off-duty coal miners _ dressed in overalls and covered in soot _ spread out across sunflower fields and tiny Ukrainian villages Friday, searching through the wreckage of the Malaysian plane shot down as it flew miles above the country's battlefield.

The downing killed 298 people from nearly a dozen nations. By midday, 181 bodies had been located, according to emergency workers at the sprawling crash site.

Separatist rebels who control the eastern area where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was brought down Thursday said they had recovered most of its black boxes and were considering what to do with them. Their statement had profound implications for the integrity of the plane crash investigation.

U.S. intelligence authorities said a surface-to-air missile downed the plane, but could not say who fired it.

Ukraine has called for an international probe to determine who attacked the plane and insisted it was not its military.

An angry Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Friday demanded an independent inquiry into the downing and called Russia's response to it "deeply, deeply unsatisfactory."

"The initial response of the Russian ambassador was to blame Ukraine for this and I have to say that is deeply, deeply unsatisfactory," he said. "It's very important that we don't allow Russia to prevent an absolutely comprehensive investigation so that we can find out exactly what happened here."

"This is not an accident, it's a crime," he added.

The crash site was spread out over fields between two villages in eastern Ukraine _ Rozsypne and Hrabove _ and access to it remained difficult and dangerous. The road from Donetsk, the largest city in the region, to the crash site was marked by five rebel checkpoints Friday, with document checks at each.

Fighting apparently still continued nearby. In the distance, the thud of Grad missile launchers being fired could be heard Friday morning.

In the sunflower fields around Rozsypne, 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Russian border, lines of men disappeared into the thick and tall growth Friday. One fainted after finding a body. Another body was covered in a coat.

In Hrabove, several miles away, huge numbers of simple sticks, some made from tree branches, were affixed with red or white rags to mark spots where body parts were found.

Ukraine Foreign Ministry representative Andriy Sybiga said 181 bodies had been found, citing local emergency workers at the site. He said the bodies will be taken to Kharkiv, a government-controlled city 270 kilometers (170 miles) to the north, for identification.

Among the debris were watches and smashed mobile phones, charred boarding passes and passports. An "I Love Amsterdam" T-shirt and a guidebook to Bali hinted at holiday plans.

Large chunks of the Boeing 777 that bore the airline's red, white and blue markings lay strewn over one field. The cockpit and one turbine lay a kilometer (a half-mile) apart, and residents said the tail landed another 10 kilometers (six miles) away.

One rebel militiaman in Rozsypne told The Associated Press that the plane's fuselage showed signs of being struck by a projectile.

The area has seen heavy fighting between government troops and pro-Russia separatists, and rebels had bragged about shooting down two Ukrainian military jets in the region just a day earlier.

Ukraine accused the rebels of shooting down the Malaysia Airlines plane. The rebels denied it and accused government forces of the same; President Petro Poroshenko denied it as well.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the downing, saying it was responsible for the unrest in its Russian-speaking eastern regions _ but did not accuse Ukraine of shooting the plane down and not address the key question of whether Russia gave the rebels such a powerful missile. Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of supporting the rebels, a charge that Moscow denies.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk described the downing Friday as an "international crime" whose perpetrators would have to be punished in an international tribunal.

"Yesterday's terrible tragedy will change our lives. The Russians have done it now," he was cited as saying by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

An assistant to the insurgency's military commander, Igor Girkin, said Friday on condition of anonymity that eight out of the plane's 12 recording devices had been located at the crash site. He did not elaborate. Since airplanes normally have both a flight data recorder and a cockpit voice recorder, it was not exactly clear what devices he was referring to.

He said Girkin was still considering whether to give international crash investigators access to the sprawling crash site. Any investigators would need specific permission from the rebel leadership before they could safely film or take photos at the crash site, he said.

Kenneth Quinn of the Flight Safety Foundation said an international coalition of countries should lead the investigation. The Unites States has offered to help.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lay repeatedly insisted Friday that the airline's path was an internationally approved route and denied accusations that Malaysia Airlines was trying to save fuel and money by taking a more direct flight path across Ukraine.

"I want to stress that this route is an approved path that is used by many airlines including 15 Asia-Pacific airlines. We have not been informed that the path cannot be used," he said

Malaysia's prime minister said there was no distress call before the plane went down.

Aviation authorities in several countries, including the FAA in the United States, had issued previous warnings not to fly over parts of Ukraine after Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula in March. Within hours of the crash Thursday, several airlines announced they were avoiding parts of Ukrainian airspace.

On Friday, Ukraine's state aviation service closed the airspace over two regions currently gripped by fighting _ Donetsk and Luhansk _ and Russian aviation regulators said Russian airlines have suspended all transit flights over Ukraine.

At a news conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Airlines updated its nationality count of passengers, saying the plane carried 173 Dutch, 24 Malaysian, 27 Australian, 12 Indonesian, 9 British, 4 German, 4 Belgian, 3 Filipino and one person each from Canada and New Zealand.

Passengers on the plane included a large contingent of world-renowned AIDS researchers and activists headed to an international AIDS conference in Melbourne, Australia. News of their deaths sparked an outpouring of grief across the global scientific community.

In Kuala Lumpur, several relatives of victims were meeting with counselors at the international airport. A distraught Akmar Mohamad Noor, 67, said her older sister was coming to visit the family for the first time in five years.

"She called me just before she boarded the plane and said, `See you soon,"' Akmar said.

In the Netherlands, flags were flying at half-staff across the country as residents mourned the victims.

Anton Gerashenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior minister, said on his Facebook page the plane was flying at about 10,000 meters (33,000 feet) when it was hit by a missile from a Buk launcher, which can fire up to an altitude of 22,000 meters (72,000 feet). He said only that his information was based on "intelligence."

AP TELEVISION

Hrabove, Ukraine - 18 July, 2014

1. Various debris and personal items on ground, emergency workers and volunteers searching through sunflower fields.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai on Sunday met a group of experts from his country who travelled to Kiev to participate in the joint international investigation into the cause of the Malaysia Airlines plane crash.

Speaking after the meeting in the Ukraine capital, the minister said it was "imperative" to resolve the issue of access to the crash site and the remains of the victims, and to ensure the safety of the investigative team.

Rebels in eastern Ukraine on Sunday took control of the bodies recovered from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and refused to give international investigators full access to the crash site.

They said that recovered bodies would remain in four refrigerated train cars in the rebel-held town of Torez, 15 kilometres (nine miles) from the crash site, until the arrival of an international aviation delegation.

AP TELEVISION

1. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai shakes hands with delegation of experts from Malaysia

2. Wide of meeting of working group

3. Delegation members

4. Close-up of expert

5. Minister during meeting

6. Minister Liow Tiong Lai walking towards media

7. SOUNDBITE (English) Liow Tiong Lai, Malaysian Transport Minister:

"As we know the government... Ukraine government has actually managed to recover the bodies. It's all in the freezer in the train right now. And it's supposed to from train, it's supposed to move and come to Kiev any time. But in view that it has been stopped by the certain quarters, and so it is imperative that we resolve this issue."

8. Minister and journalists

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Liow Tiong Lai, Malaysian Transport Minister:

"The Ukrainian government has informed the joint international investigation team that the crash site is under full control of the separatist's group. Thus the Ukrainian government has stated that it has been unable to establish the safe corridor to the crash site for the international team. The Ukrainian government has said it cannot guarantee the safety of the international team in and around the crash site."

10. Group of experts looking at map of Ukraine

11. Close of map with finger pointing crash site

12. Low view of Malaysian expert team standing around map

13. Reverse view of Malaysian experts standing in group

14. Malaysian experts starting to walk

The international search for the missing Malaysian jetliner expanded further into the Indian Ocean on Friday, amid signs the aircraft may have flown on for hours after its last contact with air traffic control nearly a week ago.

The Malaysia Airlines plane reportedly sent signals to a satellite for four hours after the aircraft went missing early last Saturday, raising the possibility the jet carrying 239 people could have flown far from the current search areas.

The Boeing 777 jets are equipped with a monitoring system that "pings" - sends a signal to - a satellite on an hourly basis, even if the radar has been turned off.

The notion that the missing plane had flown on after losing radar contact also increased speculation that whatever happened to the plane was a deliberate act.

"Together with our international partners, we are now pushing further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean," Malaysia's Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told a news conference in Sepang.

Hussein said that "more detailed information" had been shared by investigating teams but that the information was yet to be verified.

"I hope within a couple of days that we can come to some conclusive position," he said.

The Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200 last communicated with air traffic base stations east of Malaysia in the South China Sea, which for several days was the main focus of the search.

Planes and ships also have been searching the Strait of Malacca west of Malaysia because a blip on military radar suggested the plane might have turned in that direction after the last confirmed contact.

If the plane flew another four hours, it could be much farther away.

In Beijing on Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed that the search had been widened to the Strait of Malacca, west of Malaysia, following the new information.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Hong Lei also urged Malaysia's government to release any further information it has regarding the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner to help narrow the search area.

"China urges the Malaysian side to promptly and comprehensively report their information about the search to China," he told journalists at the regular MOFA news briefing.

In Hong Kong, an aviation expert said it was "technically" possible that the plane could have flown on for a few hours after radar contact was lost.

Albert Cheng, Chairman of Aircraft Division at The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, pointed out that radar communication itself could be turned off from the plane cockpit, but that the plane would still be transmitting information via the "monitoring system".

This information would not include locations, he said, but added that communication experts could possibly trace such the signal.

AP TELEVISION

Sepang, Malaysia

1. Malaysia Transportation Minister Hishammuddin Hussein arriving at news conference

2. Wide of news conference

3. Cut away to cameramen

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian Transportation Minister

"Together with our international partners, we are now pushing further east into the South China Sea, and further into the Indian Ocean. We want nothing more than to find the plane as quickly as possible. But the circumstances have forced us to widen our search."

5. Wide of news conference

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian Transportation Minister

"The Malaysian investigating teams have shared more detailed information, as it becomes available, for verification. The international team are currently working on verifying that detailed information, but we have nothing to confirm at this moment."

7. Wide of media

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Hishammuddin Hussein, Malaysian Transportation Minister

"And this new information, or the availability of this information in our hands, we share to these experts are now being digested. I hope within a couple of days that they can come to some conclusive position."

9. Hussein exiting news conference

Beijing, China

10. Wide of Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Hong Lei entering room and zoom in to mid shot

11. Wide of reporters

12. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Hong Lei, spokesman, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

"Starting yesterday, the Chinese Maritime Rescue Centre has urged the merchant ships of COSCO and CSCI (names of shipping companies) to change their routes towards the west, close to the rescue district made public by Malaysia, and to pay attention to suspicious floating material while passing the Strait of Malacca."

13. Mid of reporter

14. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Hong Lei, spokesman, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

"China urges the Malaysian side to promptly and comprehensively report their information about the search to China. It is not only conducive to China's rescue and search effort, but will also make the rescue operation for all parties far more effective and targeted."

Hong Kong

15. Wide of Albert Cheng, Chairman of Aircraft Division at The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, working at computer

16. Close of computer screen showing Malaysia Airline plane

17. SOUNDBITE: (English) Albert Cheng, Chairman of Aircraft Division at The Hong Kong Institution of Engineers:

"It is possible, technically, because when you talk about the aircraft went missing, that means it went missing on the radar system. The cockpit can turn off the radar, so that then they have ceased the contact between the air traffic control or the radar communication on the ground. So it is possible. It went missing on the radar but the airplane is still there physically. But, at the same time, the engine and the flight control system are actually still sending signals through satellite and radio frequency under our system called monitoring system."

18. Wide of Cheng speaking

Chinese relatives of passengers on Flight 370 demanded on Sunday that Malaysian authorities provide them with evidence that the Malaysian Airlines plane had crashed into the sea.

Tensions were running high at the Beijing hotel where Chinese relatives met with Malaysian government and airline representatives and demanded answers.

Meanwhile, the search for floating debris from the Malaysia Airlines jetliner was in high gear Sunday as nine aircraft, eight

ships and four helicopters combed an Indian Ocean search zone west of Australia more than three weeks after the Boeing 777 disappeared with 239 people on board.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak announced on March 24 that based on radar and satellite analysis the plane had crashed somewhere in the southern Indian Ocean.

But no debris linked to the Flight MH370 has been found yet, following 22 days of an extensive, multinational search.

"What we want is evidence. We know there were signals being sent by at least four transmitters, even this they cannot provide as proof. On what grounds are they saying the plane went down to the sea?" asked Wen Wancheng, father of one of the passengers on board the plane.

The relatives also demanded that the airline set up meetings with representatives from Boeing, Rolls Royce and Inmarsat, saying the lack of information was troubling.

Roll-Royce built the plane's engines, and Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company, provided the satellite data that was used to map the jet's final route.

The relatives were assured of their stay at the hotel in Beijing until the plane was found.

Malaysia Airlines also said it would fly family members to Perth, where the current search base is, but only after wreckage was confirmed to have been found.

Two-thirds of the passengers aboard the plane, which disappeared en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur, were Chinese.

China has urged Malaysia to be more open about the investigation, while Malaysian officials have defended their handling of the probe and the information they have provided to passengers' relatives.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of conference room, Malaysian officials sitting in front of large screen

2. Mid pan of Malaysian representatives at table

3. Mid reverse of relatives sitting in room

4. Wide of medical and psychological team seating at table

5. Wide of conference, title of presentation on screen in background reading (English): SAR Operation for MH370 30 March 2014."

6. Close of map showing search area in southern Indian Ocean

7. Mid of Malaysian representative speaking to crowd

8. Mid of police and security standing by door

9. Mid of relatives

10. Mid of Malaysian representatives, UPSOUND (English) Name not available, representative of Malaysian government delegation:

"There is no plan or whatsoever to ask the next-of-kin (of Flight MH370 passengers) to leave this place (hotel) before any finding has been made."

11. Mid of police standing by door

12. Wide of meeting

13. Zoom in to Malaysian delegation UPSOUND (Mandarin) Name not available, representative of relatives of missing passengers:

"Do you admit that there is no evidence to report that the plane has crashed or that it had exploded?"

14. Mid of relatives

15. Mid of Malaysian delegation UPSOUND (Mandarin) Name not available, representative of relatives of missing passengers:

"If the plane did not crash into the sea, and it did not explode in the air, can you tell us what might have happened?"

16. Mid of police

17. Mid of Malaysian official UPSOUND (English) Name not available, representative of Malaysian government delegation:

"I can't answer this question."

18. Mid of Malaysian Airlines staff member working with relatives during meeting

19. Close of board inside meeting room with messages written on it, one reading (Chinese): "Dad, please come home."

20. Close of message on board reading (Chinese): "Come back safe, we are waiting for you."

21. Pull out of to wide of Malaysian government delegation finishing meeting, people leaving

22. SOUNDBITE (Mandarin) Wen Wancheng, father of a missing passenger:

"They have not provided evidence that the plane went down in the sea. What we want is evidence. We know there were signals being sent by at least four transmitters, even this they cannot provide as proof. On what grounds are they saying the plane went down to the sea?"

23. Mid pan of Wen walking away