Ukraine: Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 Crash Site Looted By Rebels, Evidence Being Destroyed
As more details about the circumstances under which the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 emerge, it is gradually becoming a diplomatic stand-off between Ukraine and Russia, with either parties blaming the other for the circumstances that led to the crash. However, even after the crash, there seems to be no end to the row, causing even more distress to the family members of the people who were killed in the disaster.
Two days since the horrific crash of Flight MH17 that saw 298 lives being snuffed out needlessly, there are reports of appalling behavior on part of rebel soldiers who control the area. According to a BBC report, international representatives who have reached the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash site have been treated with utter disdain by the pro-Russian rebels. They have also been accused of attempting to destroy key evidence from the crash site. Some rebel soldiers were reportedly drunk and misbehaved with investigators and aviation experts on the ground.
The worst news for affected family members is the fact that several bodies have still not been retrieved from the crash site. The Ukrainian government said in a statement that “terrorists” had taken 38 bodies to a morgue in the nearby rebel-held city of Donetsk. The rebels were also planning to transport the plane’s debris to Russia, the statement said. Earlier, an OSCE (Organization For Security and Co-operation In Europe) spokesman had confirmed that they had limited access to the crash site and that armed rebels even fired a few shots in the air to intimidate investigators.
Ukraine has also blamed rebels for looting passenger belongings that include cash, credit cards, and jewelry from the area where Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crashed after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. In a report by the Daily Mail, they had said how a lot of luggage and personal items owned by passengers aboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 were intact and had little damage to them. These include stuffed toys and books. The Ukrainian government has in the meantime appealed to the relatives of the people on board the ill fated flight to cancel their relatives’ credit cards to prevent those from being misused, says a CNN report. Kiev has urged the international community to put pressure on Russia to make sure investigations about the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 are carried out properly and without the interference of the rebels.
In an earlier report, The Inquisitr discussed the horrific scenes that were witnessed by people living near the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 crash site. Aircraft debris and body parts rained from the sky after the missile hit the plane and caused rapid decompression. Most of the bodies had little or no clothing on them — probably caused due to extreme decompression at the high altitude at which the plane was flying at the time of impact.
Ukraine’s government has called the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 “an act of terrorism” and released intercepted phone conversations which they claim are between the rebels and Russian military officials talking about a plane being hit. Russia has poo-pooed these allegations and claimed that it was in fact an Ukrainian air force plane that shot down Flight MH17.
[Image Via Wikimedia Commons]
