Malaysia will leave "no stones unturned" in its quest for justice in the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, the nation's defence minister said on Friday.

Hishammuddin Hussein was addressing journalists at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang after returning from Ukraine.

Flight MH17 went down on July 17 over Ukrainian territory held by pro-Russian rebels, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

Hishammudin Hussein, who also visited Russia and the Netherlands during the trip, said that Russia had said they will continue working with Malaysian authorities and had given a commitment that "they too want to find the truth".

He stressed Malaysia's own commitment to bringing back the remains of passengers of the plane that were still in the region

Meanwhile on Friday, the chief Dutch prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation into the downing of the jet said the possibility that Flight 17 was shot down from the ground is the "most likely" scenario.

A separate Dutch air crash investigation concluded this week that the plane was hit from the outside by numerous high-energy objects, but stopped short of calling it a missile strike.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of Malaysian Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein arriving at news conference, zoom in

2. Mid of photographers

3. Wide of news conference

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

"I must say that the Russians have indicated to me that they are working closely with us and they will continue to do that. They've given us, given me a commitment that they too want to find the truth."

5. Mid of reporters writing

6. Mid of cameramen

7. Pan from media to Hussein

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

"No stones unturned when it comes to finding justice for MH17, to bring back the remains of the remaining passengers that are still there, not only from Malaysia but from the other nations also."

9. Mid of reporters writing

10. Close of cameraman

11. Mid of reporter

12. Hishammuddin Hussein exiting

Russia's Ambassador to Malaysia said on Tuesday that experts had confirmed that the black boxes of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 that crashed in eastern Ukraine "were not tampered with."

Lyudmila Vorobyeva said that Russia was not playing "the blame game," as claimed by some Western countries.

On Monday pro-Moscow separatists released a train packed with bodies of the plane crash victims and handed over the black boxes from the downed Malaysia Airlines plane, four days after it got shot down.

With body parts decaying in sweltering heat and signs that evidence at the crash site was mishandled, anger in Western capitals has mounted at the rebels and their allies in Moscow.

The bodies of the 298 victims, most from the Netherlands, have become a part of the conflict in Ukraine because they could hold evidence of what brought the plane down on July 17 as it was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

AP TELEVISION

1. Car driving into Russian Embassy in Malaysia

2. Sign of Russian Embassy

3. Russian Ambassador to Malaysia sitting at press conference

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Lyudmila Vorobyeva, Russian Ambassador to Malaysia:

"The black boxes have been handed over to Malaysian experts and Malaysian experts have certified that they were not tampered with. That are the words by Malaysian experts."

5. Cutaway of Vorobyeva speaking

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Lyudmila Vorobyeva, Russian Ambassador to Malaysia:

"The rebels do not possess any defence systems that are capable of shooting a plane at the altitude of ten kilometres.They do not have this kind of systems. Russia has never supplied this kind of system."

7. Cutaway of media

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Lyudmila Vorobyeva, Russian Ambassador to Malaysia:

"In Russia, we are not playing these games that are our Western counterparts is engaging very much into - blaming someone and accusing some parties without any evidence. We are not doing that. We are calling for thorough investigation that could produce evidence of who is responsible for this tragedy."

9. Media filming

10. Vorobyeva leaving

11. Various of woman holding banner reading (English): "Justice for MH 17" in front of Russian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur

13. Security in front of embassy

The Malaysian Transport Minister said on Tuesday that a preliminary report into the MH17 crash confirmed that the aircraft was in an "airworthy condition."

Liow Tiong Lai was speaking at a news conference following the release of a report on the aviation disaster by the Dutch Safety Board.

Liow also said that Malaysia would pursue whoever caused the crash and would bring them to justice.

The preliminary report concluded that Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was likely struck by multiple "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft," causing it to break up over eastern Ukraine.

The report stopped short of saying the Boeing 777 was shot down by a missile, but its findings appear to point to that conclusion.

MH17 suddenly plunged out of the sky on July 17 over territory held by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew on board.

++QUALITY AS INCOMING++

AP TELEVISION

1. Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai arriving at news conference

2. Liow and other officials standing at podium

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

"The investigations confirm that the MAS (Malaysia Airlines) crew were qualified to conduct the flight and that the aircraft was in airworthy condition."

4. Pan of Liow at news conference

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

"Somebody has to be responsible for this accident, somebody should have press the button to shoot down the plane. We would like to find out who is the person."

6. Two reporters at news conference

7. Liow and other officials at podium

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

"So once we can determine the culprits then we will definitely demand justice and we will bring them to the arbitration or to the court. It can be international court or it can be Malaysian court."

9. Liow holding up copy of preliminary report into MH17 crash

10. Wide of Liow speaking at news conference

11. Three reporters on mobile phones

12. Liow leaving the news conference

The Malaysian Prime Minister said on Thursday that it would be impossible to bring home the bodies of the Malaysian victims of the crashed Malaysia Airlines plane before the end of the month of Ramadan.

Najib Razak made his comments during a visit to the Dutch Ambassador's residence in Kuala Lumpur.

After signing a book of condolence at the residence, Razak stated that the body identification process and the forensic works could take weeks, or even months.

The first flight with body remains arrived on Dutch soil on Wednesday.

Razak also said he was angry that investigators still did not have full access to the crash site.

While the Dutch Ambassador Harry Molenaar said that after the bodies were returned home, they would like to see justice.

AP TELEVISION

1. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak walking through the Dutch ambassador's house , with the ambassador and others

2. Razak signing condolence book

3. Harry Molenaar, Dutch Ambassador to Malaysia looking on

4. Various of Razak signing condolence book

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia:

"It is expected that this whole process will take weeks, it might even be months, we are not sure yet. But the people on the ground have informed me that it cannot be done before Raya (celebration day after the end of Holy Ramadan month). So, it is with much regret that I have to inform the families concerned. But this is not only a legal and technical requirement, but we want to give the dignity to the families concerned."

6. Message written by Razak in condolence book

7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Najib Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia:

"Yes, I am angry and I want full access because it is unfortunately it is a war zone and you know a war zone, there are many constraints and not only having access but the safety of those people (investigators) that must be, both sides must respect the safety of the people. So, it is not as straight forward as it sounds, we are doing our level best and I will be making some effort to see that this will be respected by both sides."

8. Pull focus candle

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Harry Molenaar, Dutch Ambassador to Malaysia:

"We would like to see justice. At the first step, priority was to get the bodies back. The second step is to get justice to what has happened to these people."

10. Card outside the Dutch ambassador's house reading (English) "Tributes to the soul of MH17"

11. Card outside the Dutch ambassador's house reading (English) "Our Heartfelt Condolences #MH17"

12. Flowers and cards outside the Dutch ambassador's house

Nearly four years after the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, family members of the victims onboard the passenger jet continue to seek justice.

On Friday, the Netherlands and Australia announced they were holding Moscow legally responsible for its role in the missile attack.

The announcement came a day after international prosecutors said they had unequivocal evidence of Russian involvement in the downing of a Malaysian passenger jet.

Don Shahidan Kassim, a relative of Dora Shahila Kassim, the chief stewardess onboard MH17, said he hopes the Malaysian and Australian governments will take action against Russia.

On Thursday, a Dutch-led international team of investigators said they had strong evidence that the Buk missile system that brought down the Amsterdam-Kuala Lumpur flight came from a Russia-based military unit, the 53rd anti-aircraft missile brigade based in the Russian city of Kursk.

It was the most explicit link yet published by the investigators between Moscow and the downing of the flight known as MH17.

Kuala Lumpur - 26 May 2018

1. Don Shahidan Kassim, relative of Dora Shahila Kassim, Chief stewardess on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, looking at photo book

2. Close of Don Shahidan Kassim's hands flicking through photo book

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Shahidan Kassim, relative of Dora Shahila Kassim, Chief stewardess on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17:

"All of the next of kin expect justice because being that a passenger plane, how come an army such as the Russians would shoot it down? Whatever reason they have, they should not shoot the plane down. So we want justice, so we want our government and others, I think the Australian government, people want justice, so we are still pursuing it and hope the Malaysian government will still pursue it as a next of kin we are really hoping for justice."

4. Photo of Dora (screen bottom left), tilt up to photos of other crew members of MH17

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Don Shahidan Kassim, relative of Dora Shahila Kassim, Chief stewardess on Malaysia Airlines Flight 17:

"It has been four years already, this coming 17 July, four years already. And we are not informed, any (no) government has been able to take action against the Russian government, so we are still hoping but if the Australian government is able to take action against the Russian, we are happy with it because we want justice. I think also that the Australian people want justice but it's been four years and we do not know whether this year or next year or the next coming five years our government or the other governments will be able to prosecute Russia about this issue."

6. Don Shahidan Kassim looking at photo book

7. Close of photo of Dora

SHOTLIST:

GRAPHIC: Malaysian passenger plane shot down over eastern Ukraine; scores dead

2013519

AP Television

Hrabove - 17 July 2014

1. Burning wreckage of plane with people walking in the background

2. ++GRAPHIC - CONTAINS SHOT OF DEAD BODY++ Wreckage of the plane with dead body lying in the grass

GRAPHIC: Wreckage of the Malaysian plane; bodies scattered across the ground

2013523

++GRAPHIC WARNING: THIS FOOTAGE CONTAINS PICTURES OF MANY DEAD BODIES STREWN AMONGST WRECKAGE++

AP TELEVISION

Hrabove - 17 July 2014

3. Wreckage of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 in field in Hrabove, eastern Ukraine, smoke and flames rising from pieces of plane

4. ++GRAPHIC++ Human bodies strewn amongst charred wreckage of plane as debris smokes

AP PHOTOS - No Access Canada/Broadcast use only/Strictly No Access Online or Mobile

Hrabove - 17 July 2014

5. STILL: Man in uniform gesturing while standing in debris

GRAPHIC: AP cover wreckage of the plane that was shot down over eastern Ukraine

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AP TELEVISION

Hrabove- 17 July 2014

6. Wide of debris still smoking and on fire

7. debris still smouldering and on fire in places

Flowers and messages left at Schiphol Airport for passengers for downed plane

2013903

AP TELEVISION

Schiphol Airport - 20 July 2014

8. Zoom in to woman laying flowers

Crane lifts sections of plane wreckage as serach of crash site continues

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AP TELEVISION

Hrabove - 21 July 2014

9. A crane lifting pieces of plane wreckage

Train departs carrying bodies of crash victims in refrigerated carriages

2014117

AP TELEVISION

Torez - 21 July 2014

10. A pile of luggage on the station platform

11. The train pulling away from the station

Separatist leader hands over black boxes to Malaysia officials

2014155

AP TELEVISION

Donetsk - 22 July 2014

12. Mid of Malaysian official inspecting first black box and placing it in a bag

13. Close of black boxes, pull out to Sakri and rebel official shaking hands

Scuffles break out in parliament as MPs discuss Malaysian plane crash; minute of silence

2014252

AP TELEVISION

Kiev - 22 July 2014

14. Various of lawmakers pushing each other

OSCE mission inspects another site scattered with debris from plane crash

2014417

AP TELEVISION

Petropavlivka - 23 July 2014

15. Wide of OSCE Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) inspectors

convoy at side of field

Planes carrying 38 MH17 coffins arrive to the Netherlands in a solemn ceremony

2015060

AP TELEVISION

Eindhoven - 26 July 2014

16. Various of military carrying a coffin

STORYLINE:

An Associated Press journalist has counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site of a passenger plane that was shot down on July 17th 2014 as it flew over the country.

Both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the plane.

The plane appeared to have broken up before impact and the burning wreckage - which included body parts and the belongings of passengers - was scattered over a wide area.

***

Dead bodies of passengers were visible amongst the smouldering wreckage of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17th after the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine.

Both the Ukrainian government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft, which was carrying 295 people.

As plumes of black smoke rose up near a rebel-held village of Hrabove, an Associated Press journalist counted at least 22 bodies at the wreckage site 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Russian border.

The Boeing 777-200ER plane, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, appeared to have broken up before impact and the burning wreckage, which included body parts and the belongings of passengers, was scattered over a wide area.

Men in army fatigues, believed to be pro-Russia separatists, were seen at the crash site.

***

A Malaysia Airlines passenger plane carrying 295 people was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17th, Ukrainian officials said.

The Boeing 777-200ER plane, travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, appeared to have broken up before impact and the burning wreckage, which included body parts and the belongings of passengers, was scattered over a wide area.

Both the government and the pro-Russia separatists fighting in the region denied any responsibility for downing the aircraft.

The village is under the control of pro-Russia separatists and the area has seen severe fighting between the two sides in recent days.

A Russian news report said pro-Russia rebels intend to call a three-day cease-fire to allow for an investigation into the crash and recovery efforts.

***

Flowers were laid outside Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands on July 20th to commemorate the victims of the downed flight MH17.

KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) flight attendants and members of the public also left messages in a book of condolences just outside the airport.

Airline employees are starting to wonder how safe it is to fly over crisis zones.

"We always assume that everything is safe but apparently it is not, so that is another reason to be wondering what happened here," said Boris Tester, a purser for KLM.

The Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Saturday he had an "extremely intense" telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, during which he urged him to use his influence over separatist rebels in Ukraine to ensure they do not hinder efforts to investigate the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The plane crashed on July 17th, killing all 298 passengers and crew, most of them Dutch citizens.

***

A crane at the crash scene moved big chunks of the Boeing 777 on Monday while emergency workers retrieved more bodies in the sprawling fields of eastern Ukraine where Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed, killing all 298 people aboard.

By early July 21st, local emergency workers had piled at least 21 black body bags by the side of the road in Hrabove.

That brought the total found to 272 of the 298 passengers and crew killed in the tragedy, according to Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The bodies were being sent to the refrigerated railcars in the nearby town of Torez, where the other bodies are being kept.

A train engineer told The Associated Press that the cars' refrigeration had been off overnight and it was not immediately clear why. The cooling system was back up and running early July 21st, he said.

The shambolic attempts to investigate by the pro-Russia separatists who control the verdant farmland where pieces of the plane crashed have fanned widespread international outrage, especially from the nations whose citizens were on the doomed plane.

Four days after the jetliner was shot out of the sky, international investigators still had only limited access to the crash site in eastern Ukraine.

The the UN Security Council is expected to vote today on an Australia-proposed resolution demanding international access to the crash site and a cease-fire around the area.

***

A refrigerated train bearing the bodies of many of the 298 people killed in the Malaysia Airlines plane disaster pulled away on July 21st from a rebel-held town in eastern Ukraine.

The train left from Torez, 15 kilometres (9 miles) from the crash site.

An Associated Press reporter overheard armed separatists saying it was heading for the rebel-held town of Ilovaysk.

There was no official confirmation of that destination from the rebels.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said that the remains of 282 of the crash victims are being moved by train to Kharkiv, where they will be handed over to Dutch authorities.

From there, he said, they will be flown to Amsterdam on a Dutch C130 Hercules military plane and handed over to Dutch authorities.

Razak said the leader of the pro-Russian rebels has agreed to hand over both black boxes from Flight 17 to Malaysian investigators who are in Ukraine.

***

A Ukrainian separatist leader handed over black boxes from flight MH17 to Malaysia officials in Donetsk early on July 22nd.

Alexander Borodai, Prime Minister of self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk said they were "being returned to their owners."

A Malaysian investigator said the boxes were in good condition.

Flight MH17 was shot down in the rebel-controlled area of eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people onboard.

Experts have called for a full forensic sweep of the crash site amid suggestions that some of the evidence may have been tampered with.

***

Scuffles broke out in the Ukrainian parliament on July 22nd after a lawmaker blamed the Ukrainian authorities for failing to adopt a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine and accused them of running a war against the Ukrainian people.

The accusations were made by lawmaker Mykola Levchenko from the Party of Regions, which was close to Ukraine's former president Viktor Yanukovych.

Lawmaker Ihor Miroshychenko from the Svoboda Party started to push Levchenko, before other lawmakers joined in the fight.

The incident took place as parliament discussed Malaysian airlines flight MH17, which crashed in eastern Ukraine the previous week.

The parliamentary session started with a minute of silence to remember the victims.

Oleksandr Turchynov, the Chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament, accused Russia of committing "acts of military aggression against Ukraine" by providing weapons to separatist fighters in eastern Ukraine and sending troops to the border.

"Russia is continuing an escalation of armed opposition in these (Donetsk and Luhansk) regions," said Andriy Parubiy, the Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council.

"Right now, around 41-thousand Russian Federation armed forces servicemen are located on the eastern and northern Ukrainian borders and Crimea's borders," he added.

Fighting in eastern Ukraine began in mid-April after Russia annexed Ukraine's southern Crimean Peninsula a month earlier.

***

Monitors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on July 23rd visited a different site peppered with wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

The pro-Russian separatists who are in control of the main crash area are showing little willingness to allow the full-scale investigation that's being demanded by world leaders.

The debris is still unguarded across a wide stretch of farmland.

International observers say there are signs that the debris is being mishandled or even tampered with.

So far, though, there still has not been a full-scale investigation of the site.

Ukrainian aviation officials were allowed to visit briefly on July 18th but got little access.

Forensic officials from the Netherlands were allowed a visit on July 21st.

***

Two military cargo planes, one Dutch and the other Australian, also flew 38 more coffins carrying victims to the Netherlands for identification and investigation.

The planes took off on July 26th from Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where the bodies have been brought from the wreckage site in territory held by pro-Russian separatists fighting the Ukrainian government.

They landed later in the afternoon in Eindhoven, where the coffins were transferred to a fleet of hearses in a solemn ceremony.

Officials said the flights took the last of the 227 coffins containing victims that had been brought to Kharkiv by refrigerated train.

Officials say the exact number of people held in the coffins is still to be determined by forensic experts in the Netherlands.

International observers have said there are still remains at the crash site. Access has been limited due to rebel interference and security concerns.

The Boeing 777 went down July 17 as it headed to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, killing all 298 people on board. Most of them were Dutch citizens.

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

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2036486

A convoy of eight trucks carrying wreckage from the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster has arrived at a Dutch military base, as the official investigation into the cause of the plane's destruction continues.

Flight MH17 was shot down on July 17 over territory held by pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 passengers and crew - most of them Dutch.

The Dutch-led international team investigating the disaster initially had difficulty accessing the disaster site due to clashes between rival forces.

The remains of six victims have yet to be found.

Now that the wreckage is at the Gilze-Rijen military base in the south of the Netherlands, investigators will photograph, scan and categorise the wreckage. They plan later to reassemble part of the Boeing 777 in a hangar, a procedure described by Tjibbe Joustra, Chairman of the Dutch safety board, as "laborious".

A final report on the downing of the jet is hoped to be ready by the middle of next year.

AP TELEVISION

Glize-Rijen, 9 December 2014

1. Close of police escort and trucks carrying the MH17 wreckage

2. Close of cameramen

3. Pan of trucks going into the military base

4. Close of people watching the trucks passing by

5. Wide pan of trucks coming into the base

6. Military guards watching the convoy as it is getting into the bas

7. People watching

8. Zoom out of trucks in the base with military guards in foreground

9. People watching

10. Military guards closing the base's gate

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2014429

Two military transport planes carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 have landed in the Netherland's southern city of Eindhoven.

Six days after the Boeing 777 was shot down over the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, the first bodies finally arrived Wednesday in the Netherlands, the country that bore the heaviest toll in the crash that killed all 298 passengers and crew.

A Dutch Hercules C-130 that Dutch government spokesman Lodewijk Hekking says is carrying 16 coffins was closely followed by an Australian C-17 Globemaster plane carrying 24 coffins.

The planes were met by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and hundreds of relatives.

The Dutch government declared a day of national mourning as the country prepared for the arrival of the first bodies in the afternoon.

Ukraine and western nations are pressing the pro-Russian rebels who control the crash site to allow an unfettered an investigation, something Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would use his influence to achieve.

Though confident that a missile brought down the aircraft, US officials say Russia's role remains unclear.

POOL - NO ACCESS NETHERLANDS

Eindhoven, Netherlands - 23 July 2014

1. Various of Dutch military plane landing at airport

2. Various of ceremony after Dutch and Australian military planes arrives

3. Wide of dignitaries greeting planes

4. Wide of Dutch King Willem-Alexander (left), Queen Maxima (center) and Prime Minister Mark Rutte (right)

5. Various of coffins being unloaded and hearses arriving to transport coffins

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBERS: 2014208, 2014243

The remains of the victims of the Malaysia Airlines crash arrived in territory held by the Ukrainian government on Tuesday on their way to the Netherlands.

After a 17-hour journey from the town of Torez in rebel territory, the train carrying the bodies pulled into a station in Kharkiv, a government-controlled city where Ukrainian authorities have set up their crash investigation center.

This, after delays and haphazard treatment of the bodies that put pressure on European foreign ministers meeting in Brussels to impose tougher economic sanctions on Russia.

The crash site itself, in farmland held by the pro-Russian separatists whom the West accuses of shooting down the plane, remained unsecured five days after the disaster _ another source of frustration for officials around the world eager to establish the facts of the case.

The train gave a low-pitched blast from its horn as the grey corrugated refrigerator cars slowly rolled through weed-choked tracks onto the grounds of a factory where the bodies were being received.

Government spokesman Oleksander Kharchenko said Ukraine "will do our best" to send the bodies to the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Of the 298 people who died aboard the Amsterdam-to-Kuala Lumpur flight, 193 were Dutch citizens.

AP TELEVISION

Kharkiv, Ukraine 22 July 2014

1. Wide view of train leaving switch yard

2. Various of train entering Kharkiv rail yard

3. Various of train traveling down tracks

As the Dutch Safety Board prepared to publish its final report into what caused Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to break up high over Eastern Ukraine last year, residents of the village near the site of the crash expressed concerns over how long the investigation has taken.

Some people asked why it had taken so long to remove debris from the site, including large pieces of the plane's fuselage.

Aviation experts said at the time that the site was compromised since investigators had no access to it during the first few days after the crash.

First, rebel commanders blocked OSCE observers from reaching the area, then clashes along the route to the site made it unsafe to travel there.

A preliminary report issued last year said the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur likely was hit by multiple "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft," fuelling widespread speculation that it was downed by a surface-to-air missile, likely a Russian SA-11 system known as a Buk.

Western authorities have pointed blame at Russian-backed separatist rebels who were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the area where wreckage plunged to earth on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

Russia has denied that and blamed the Ukrainian forces, who also denied downing the plane.

Countries whose citizens were killed, including the Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia, want to set up an international tribunal to prosecute any suspects. Russia vetoed the move earlier this year at the United Nations Security Council.

Ukraine's foreign minister said in July that a fresh attempt would likely be made to establish a tribunal once the final report is published.

As the Dutch Safety Board prepared to publish its final report into what caused Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 to break up high over Eastern Ukraine last year, residents of the village near the site of the crash expressed concerns over how long the investigation has taken.

Some people asked why it had taken so long to remove debris from the site, including large pieces of the plane's fuselage.

Aviation experts said at the time that the site was compromised since investigators had no access to it during the first few days after the crash.

First, rebel commanders blocked OSCE observers from reaching the area, then clashes along the route to the site made it unsafe to travel there.

A preliminary report issued last year said the Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur likely was hit by multiple "high-energy objects from outside the aircraft," fuelling widespread speculation that it was downed by a surface-to-air missile, likely a Russian SA-11 system known as a Buk.

Western authorities have pointed blame at Russian-backed separatist rebels who were fighting Ukrainian government forces in the area where wreckage plunged to earth on July 17, 2014, killing all 298 people on board.

Russia has denied that and blamed the Ukrainian forces, who also denied downing the plane.

Countries whose citizens were killed, including the Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia, want to set up an international tribunal to prosecute any suspects. Russia vetoed the move earlier this year at the United Nations Security Council.

Ukraine's foreign minister said in July that a fresh attempt would likely be made to establish a tribunal once the final report is published.

AP TELEVISION

Hrabove, Eastern Ukraine - 11 October 2015

1. Close of photo of male victim of crash hanging on cross placed near the MH17 crash site

2. Truck drives past

3. Close of another photo of male victim of crash

4. Wreath of flowers placed on cross, falling over in the wind

5. Piece of debris from crash site

6. Small pieces of debris on ground near crash site

7. Various of women cutting dry grass near the church in Hrabove village

8. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Natalia Gordeenkova, Hrabove resident:

"(When another plane crashed) the investigation was much faster. In a week they were already telling everyone the reason, everything was explained. Here they have doing it for one year already, why is there still no conclusion, why they didn't collect everything which remained? There was so many pieces, and they were lying there for so long, people still keep bringing them. However they organised a search and my son, who works at local mine was helping to search - they organised search brigades but.."

9. Cutaway women walking along street

10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Natalia Gordeenkova, Hrabove resident:

"I understand, one can't collect everything at once, but they even didn't take huge pieces for long time, personal stuff too, nobody took anything. That's why there will be no justice. If they needed justice, they would organise. Was it too scary? We live here too. These are their people, their country. It appears that nobody cares. Because they've already decided for themselves who is guilty in first days that "Russia is to blame, and the rebels are all guilty."

11. Local women walk by the church

12. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Raisa Andreevna, Hrabove resident:

"Somebody is to blame. There should be someone to blame. Planes don't fall from the sky on their own."

13. Raisa Andreevna walks away

14. Wide of monument at crash site

15. Memorial plaque near crash site reading "In memory of 298 people, innocent victims of civil war"

16. Various of toys left near monument

17. Wide of area near crash site

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on Russia on Tuesday to fully cooperate with the criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Commenting for the first time on the Dutch Safety Board's final report which concluded that the plane was shot down with a Buk missile, killing all 298 people on board, Rutte said that a key priority now is tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte called on Russia on Tuesday to fully cooperate with the criminal investigation into the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17.

Commenting for the first time on the Dutch Safety Board's final report which concluded that the plane was shot down with a Buk missile, killing all 298 people on board, Rutte said that a key priority now is tracking down and prosecuting the perpetrators.

The Hague, Netherlands - October 13, 2015

1. Pan shot of Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister

2. Cutaway of photographers

3. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister:

"With the Dutch Safety Board report in our hands, with the animation of the missile strike and with the reconstructed wreckage, that dark July 17, 2014 is suddenly very close again. At the same time, today has finally given an answer to the overwhelming question about how: What happened exactly on July 17?"

4. Cutaway of journalists

5. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister:

"With the Dutch Safety Board report, we now know what happened. But delivering legal and convincing evidence of who the responsible perpetrator or perpetrators are is a new playing field."

6. Cutaway of journalist

7. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister:

"This investigation has a huge impact here in the Netherlands and elsewhere and certainly including in Russia, there is no doubt about that. And what I want to do now is appeal to the Russian authorities to respect and give their full cooperation now as far as this report is concerned and the following investigation being carried out by public prosecutors and four other countries. To give full cooperation."

8. Close up of journalist's laptop

9. Rutte leaving the news conference

FOR CLEAN VERSION SEE STORY NUMBER: 2013623

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.

Two military transport planes carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of downed of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 landed on Wednesday in the southern city of Eindhoven.

Six days after the Boeing 777 was shot down over the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, the first bodies finally arrived in the Netherlands, the country that bore the heaviest toll in the crash that killed all 298 passengers and crew - 193 of those who died were Dutch citizens.

A Dutch Hercules C-130 that officials said was carrying 16 coffins was closely followed by an Australian C-17 Globemaster plane carrying 24 coffins.

The flights were met by Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other government officials.

Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and Australian officials were also in attendance.

POOL - NO ACCESS NETHERLANDS

1. Two military transport planes, carrying 40 coffins bearing victims of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, coming in to land at Eindhoven Air Base

2. Dutch Hercules C-130, carrying 16 coffins, landing

3. Australian C-17 Globemaster, carrying 24 coffins, landing, zoom in on Royal Australian Air Force signage

4. Various of Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai (right) arriving at airport

5. Motorcade carrying Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima arriving

6. Queen Maxima exiting vehicle

7. Wide of officials gathered on runway

8. King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte (right) taking seats

9. Planes on tarmac

10. Motorcade of hearses arriving

11. Rear of plane, as coffins are prepared to be unloaded

12. Wide of runway

13. Various of hearses parking on runway

14. Hearse parked on runway

15. Soldiers and officials standing on runway

16. Man opening rear door of hearse

17. Troops carrying coffin out of plane

18. Troops carrying coffin past various Dutch, Australian and Malaysian officials

19. Coffin being carried to hearse

20. Another coffin being carried out of plane

21. Coffin being lifted into hearse

22. Pan of officials (left to right) Dutch King Willem-Alexander, Queen Maxima, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop (behind Rutte), Australian Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove

23. Zoom out from feet to coffin being lowered into hearse

24. Troops carrying coffin across runway

25. Close of troops

26. Troops turning to face hearse and saluting

27. Man closing door of hearse

Rebels have recovered the black boxes from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and will hand them over to the International Civil Aviation Organisation, a rebel leader said on Sunday.

Alexander Borodai also said the bodies recovered from the crash site in eastern Ukraine would remain in refrigerated train cars at a station in the rebel-held town of Torez, 15 kilometres (9 miles) away, until the arrival of an international aviation delegation.

Borodai said he was expecting a team of 12 Malaysian experts and that he was disappointed at how long they had taken to arrive.

He insisted that rebels had not interfered with the crash investigation, despite reports to the contrary by international monitors and journalists at the crash site.

A wave of international outrage over how the bodies of the plane crash victims were being handled came amid fears that the armed rebels who control the crash site could be tampering with the evidence there.

The key question of who controlled the collection of evidence at the sprawling crash site in rebel-held territory dominated the day's rapid-fire developments.

International monitors say armed rebels have limited their access to the crash site and Ukrainian officials said armed rebels took the bodies away from their workers by force.

Ukraine and the separatists accuse each other of firing a surface-to-air missile Thursday at Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur some 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) above the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.

Both deny shooting down the plane. All those onboard the flight - 283 passengers and 15 crew - were killed.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of news conference

2. Cutaway media

3. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexander Borodai, rebel leader and prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic

"As of today, 196 bodies of those who died in this catastrophe were removed from the site and moved to refrigerated train cars in Torez where they will remain for now. The OSCE mission examined the bodies. Currently, there are no other (international) experts here to examine the bodies. One thing I will add. We have established contact with a group of 12 experts from Malaysia who will be arriving here in the near future, presumably tonight."

4. Cutaway cameraman

5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexander Borodai, rebel leader and prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic

"I will say that as of today, we have discovered some technical parts from the plane which are assumed to be the so-called black boxes. I stress that we do not have specialists in aviation security in the People's Republic of Donetsk, but we still presume that these are the objects in question (black boxes.) So, these objects were delivered to Donetsk and are now under my control. We wait for the representatives of a specialised organisation, in this case it is the ICAO, to whom we are ready to hand over these objects."

6. Cutaway reporter

7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Alexander Borodai, rebel leader and prime minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic

"I am hearing rumours and allegations made by the media that the bodies we collected and continue to collect of those killed in the crash will be taken to Kiev, Mariupol or somewhere else. I am answering: that's not true. We won't move these bodies anywhere until the arrival of observers and experts."

8. Cutaway reporter filming with tablet

9. Wide of news conference

10. Borodai standing up and leaving escorted by his armed bodyguards

Hundreds of people rallied against Russian President Vladimir Putin in Brisbane on Saturday, while the G20 summit was underway.

Some of those who took to the streets were Ukrainians living in Australia, who demanded the international community impose sanctions on the Russian leader.

Some protesters accused Putin of being responsible for the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane in eastern Ukraine on 17 July, when 298 people died, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

Several protesters laid on ground covered in national flags of various countries to symbolise MH17 victims.

Tensions between Australia and Russia have been simmering since the plane was shot down over an area controlled by pro-Russia separatists.

In recent days, four Russian warships have entered international waters off the northeast Australian coast to coincide with Putin's visit to Australia.

It prompted the Australian prime minister to angrily accuse Russia of trying to reclaim the "lost glories" of the Soviet Union.

AP TELEVISION

Brisbane - 15 Nov 2014

1. Various of protesters shouting carrying banners and placards against Russian President Vladimir Putin

2. Wide of anti-Putin protest

3. Protester carrying coffin in memory of victims of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 plane crash in eastern Ukraine on 17 July

4. Protesters laying on ground to symbolise MH17 victims

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Liana Slipetsky, Protester:

"We would like the countries who are here for the G20 to acknowledge the aggression of Mr. Putin and the Russian Federation and to impose sanctions on a country that has bullied Ukraine for many years. Mr. Putin is taking responsibility for the MH17 disaster and the Ukrainian community here in Australia and other communities affected by this murderer that countries acknowledge that and take a stand,"

6. Various of protesters marching

7. Police security

The Russian Defence Ministry on Monday showed photos they said proved that Ukrainian surface-to-air systems were operating in the area at the time when the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine.

Russian officials also said they had evidence that a Ukrainian Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jet had flown "between 3 to 5 kilometres (2 to 3 miles)" from the Malaysia Airlines jet.

"(The plane) is armed with air-to-air R-60 rockets, which can hit a target from a distance of up to 12 kilometres (7 miles) and guaranteed within 5 kilometres (3 miles)," said the chief of Russia's General staff, Andrei Kartopolov.

The defence ministry officials insisted that Russia had not given the rebels any surface-to-air missiles and added they have no evidence that any missiles were launched at all.

The Russian officials also asked the United States to share any satellite images of the launch.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of news briefing at Russian Defence Ministry headquarters

2. Mid of Lieutenant-General Andrei Kartopolov, head of the main operations department of the Russian Army General Staff, speaking

3. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Andrei Kartopolov, Head of the main operations department, Russian Army General Staff :

++OVERLAID WITH CUTAWAY ZOOM IN TO GRAPHICS ILLUSTRATING HIS STATEMENT++

"The Russian air situation control registered the climb of the aircraft belonging to the Ukrainian air forces, supposedly SU-25, toward the Malaysian Boeing (Malaysia Airlines flight MH17)."

4. Wide of news briefing

5. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Andrei Kartopolov, Head of the main operations department, Russian Army General Staff :

++OVERLAID WITH CUTAWAY OF GRAPHICS ++

"The SU-25 (Ukrainian) aircraft was flying three to five kilometres away from the Boeing (Malaysia Airlines flight MH17)."

6. Mid of news briefing

7. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Andrei Kartopolov, Head of the main operations department, Russian Army General Staff :

++OVERLAID WITH CLOSE UP OF GRAPHICS++

"It (the Ukrainian plane) is armed with air-to-air R-60 rockets, which can hit a target from a distance of up to 12 kilometres (7 miles) and it can definitely hit within 5 kilometres (3 miles)."

8. Wide of news briefing

9. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Igor Pakushev, Chief of Air Force, Russia's General Staff:

++OVERLAID WITH GRAPHICS ++

++THIS SOUNDBITE IS INTERLACED BY SOUND OF TRANSLATOR INTERPRETING IN ENGLISH++

"At 17:21:35 pm, at the place where the Boeing (airplane) was falling apart, a new mark showing a new object appeared. This air object was observed steadily by the radio-location posts "Ust-Donetsk" and "Buturinskaya" for four minutes. The air-controller requesting the characteristics of the newly-appeared object could not get data of its parameters because most likely an aircraft of the second type of identification system was not equipped like military crafts usually do."

10. Wide as conference ends

International observers said on Sunday that 169 bodies of those killed in the Malaysian Airline MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine have been removed from the crash site and loaded into refrigerated trains nearby.

Michael Bociurkiw, the spokesman of the Organisation of Security and Corporation (OSCE) mission to Ukraine, the organisation in charge of investigating the crash, said the train cars were expected to be taken to Ukrainian - controlled territories such as Kharkiv, where they could be processed.

"Today was quite a significant development in the sense that we were able to, under very good security, visit the village of Torez, near the crash site. There, we went to the railway station and at the railway station there were several cars, three or four which were refrigerated. We were told these cars hold victims of the MH17 crash," he told reporters gathered in Kiev, by phone.

According to Bociurkiw, the body bags had been numbered by pro-Russian rebels, who told him they loaded 169 bodies into the train.

The OSCE team, however, did not enter the train cars to investigate because they didn't have safety equipment to wear.

Walking through the crash site while speaking over the phone to journalists in Kiev, Bociurkiw suggested that some bodies might never be found.

"This is an area which was exposed to the most intense heat. We do not see any bodies here. It appears that some have been vaporised, not only bodies but also parts. The heat must have been absolutely intense," he said.

The Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Spokesperson Andriy Lysenko said 196 bodies had been recovered and the search area was expanded.

Rebels said the bodies recovered from the crash site would remain in refrigerated train cars at a station in the rebel-held town of Torez, 15 kilometres (9 miles) away, until the arrival of an international aviation delegation.

They also said they have recovered the black boxes from downed Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 and would hand them over to the International Civil Aviation Organisation.

Ukraine and the separatists accuse each other of firing a surface-to-air missile Thursday at Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 as it flew from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur some 33,000 feet (10,000 metres) above the battlefields of

eastern Ukraine.

Both deny shooting down the plane. All those onboard the flight - 283 passengers and 15 crew - were killed.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of news conference

2. Cutaway of journalists

3. Close up of screen showing picture of Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) special monitoring mission to Ukraine

4. STILL OF Bociurkiw on screen, AUDIO: (English) Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine (speaking on phone)

"Okay, well, today was quite a significant development in the sense that we were able to, under very good security, visit the village of Torez, near the crash site. There, we went to the railway station and at the railway station there were several cars, three or four which were refrigerated. We were told these cars hold victims of the MH17 crash."

5. Close up of sign reading (English) "Ukraine Crisis media centre"

6. Cutaway of journalists

7. STILL OF Bociurkiw, AUDIO: (English) Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine (speaking on phone)

"Right. Okay so we were told there are 169 - one-six-nine (bodies). Because of the conditions of the train, I mean you need professional protective equipment to go in there, and the stench was absolutely overwhelming. I don't want to be too gruesome but it is a very, very difficult scene to watch. We were told that, for the time being, those cars will be stationary. And that they were wondering when experts will be arriving to start processing the bodies. But I think the kind of thinking is that the cars should be taken to Ukrainian-controlled territories such as Kharkiv and they can be processed there."

8. Cutaway of cameraman

9. Wide of news conference

10. STILL OF Bociurkiw, AUDIO: (English) Michael Bociurkiw, spokesman for OSCE special monitoring mission to Ukraine (speaking on phone)

"We're looking at the field where the engines have come down. This is an area which was exposed to the most intense heat. We do not see any bodies here. It appears that some have been vaporised, not only bodies but also parts. The heat must have been absolutely intense."

11. Andriy Lysenko, Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Spokesperson, speaking

12. Cutaway cameras

13. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Andriy Lysenko, Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Spokesperson:

"The bodies of 196 people have been found and the search operation committee has expanded the search area from 25 to 34 square kilometres."

14. Cutaway of cameramen

15. Cutaway of journalists

16. SOUNDBITE (Ukrainian) Andriy Lysenko, Ukrainian National Security and Defence Council Spokesperson:

"All the bodies that have been directly under the sun have started to decompose. It is necessary to collect everything as fast as possible and remove them because it is becoming a danger to the civilian population of the area."

17. Cutaway of cameraman

18. Wide of news conference

Australian and Dutch diplomats joined forces to promote a plan for a UN team to secure the crash scene of Malaysia Airlines flight 17, which has been controlled by pro-Russian seperatists.

Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop and her Dutch counterpart Frans Timmermans met with Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin in Kiev on Thursday.

Addressing the media after the meeting Klimkin said an agreement had been reached, and now the top priority was to ensure "full access to the crash site... the transparent and effective investigation, and of course to recover all the possible remnants."

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

US officials say the Boeing 777 was probably shot down by a missile, most likely by accident.

AP TELEVISION

1. Wide of (left to right) Australia's foreign minister Julie Bishop, Netherland's foreign minister Frans Timmermans and Ukraine's foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin

2. Various of meeting

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Frans Timmermans, Netherland's foreign minister:

"I know that you will do everything you can to make that (independent investigation) possible. And rest assured that we from our side will do everything we can to assist you. And frankly I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart to do us the honour of asking us to lead the investigation."

4. Wide of meeting

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Julie Bishop, Australia's foreign minister:

"The international community is outraged that this crash could occur in the circumstances that it did and that it was not treated as an airline crash site nor as a crime site and so the degradation of the site, the contamination of the evidence and the disrespect shown to the bodies was too much for the citizens of our country to bear."

6. Wide of meeting

7. Various of Klimkin at meeting

8. Klimkin at news conference

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine's foreign minister:

"The respective aviation authorities of Ukraine and the Netherlands have signed the respective agreement (about cooperating in the investigation) a couple of hours ago. And our key priority at the moment, our absolute priority, our common priority is to ensure the full access to the crash site, is to ensure the transparent and effective investigation and of course to recover all the possible remnants at the crash site."

10. Cameras

11. Various exteriors of Ukrainian foreign ministry

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday that the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in eastern Ukraine was mass murder.

"Let's be absolutely crystal clear about what happened," he said after meeting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague. "Two-hundred-and-ninety-eight innocent people were murdered."

The Dutch Safety Board says it will push ahead with an investigation into the cause of the disaster, despite not being able to access the site where the plane went down in eastern Ukraine.

Rutte said on Monday that "we're putting our work on hold, but we're not stopping," adding that work at the crash site will resume "as soon as the situation stabilises sufficiently".

Flight 17 was shot down on 17 July, killing all 298 people aboard, mostly Dutch, Malaysian and Australian citizens.

Pro-Russia rebels in Ukraine have publicly denied responsibility but one top rebel has told The Associated Press they were involved.

AP TELEVISION

1. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte shaking hands and posing for photographers

2. Abbott and Rutte walking to lecterns

3. Cutaway of cameraman

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Tony Abbott, Australian Prime Minister:

"Let's be absolutely crystal clear about what happened when MH17 was shot down, 298 innocent people were murdered, 193 Dutch people were murdered and 38 who called Australia home were murdered."

5. Cutaway of camera

6. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister:

"As I've said before: we're putting our work on hold, but we're not stopping. Prime Minister Abbott and I are committed to resuming the work at the crash site as soon as the situation stabilises sufficiently."

7. Exterior of Catshuis, the official residence of the Dutch Prime Minister

POOL

8. Various of Rutte accompanying Abbott as he signs book of condolence for victims of Flight MH17