Human remains still at crash site: Australia PM

More than a week after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 came down in rebel-held eastern Ukraine human remains are still at the crash site, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Saturday.

The majority of the 298 people killed when the plane was apparently shot down by a missile were Dutch, but there were also 28 Australian nationals and nine permanent residents onboard.

Abbott is sending 190 Australian Federal Police to the Netherlands, along with a small number of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel, to participate in a planned Dutch-led operation to secure the crash site.

"Yesterday Australian officials again had access to the sites," Abbott said.

"Plainly there are unrecovered body remains in the area. And it's the presence of unrecovered remains that makes it more important than ever that an international team be dispatched to the site."

Questioned on concerns about sending troops into the volatile situation in Ukraine, Abbott stressed that Australia's involvement in the planned mission was only to secure the remains and help the investigation.

"It is, I stress, a humanitarian mission. Others can get involved if they wish in the politics of eastern Europe, our sole concern is to claim our dead and to bring them home," he said.

"When you've got major humanitarian effort, as we have, it's normal and natural to have ADF assistance and many countries have got their defence personnel on the ground already," he added, saying this included Dutch and Malaysian military personnel.

Abbott said every day the crash site remained unsecured, there was more risk of interference and that bodies would deteriorate due to their exposure to the elements.

"So we do want to get this done as quickly as we humanly can and that's why we are exploring all options in Ukraine now," he added.

Abbott said Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who was in Kiev on Friday to meet with her Ukrainian counterpart, could return to the city in coming days.

He said the last of the remains of MH17 victims which have already been placed in a train and sent to the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv were to be sent later Saturday to the Netherlands to begin the process of identification and repatriation.

Iata chief's statement

Meanwhile, Meanwhile, Iata chief in a statement expressed heartfelt sorrow over the recent three air mishaps. 

Tony Tyler, Chief Executive Officer and Director-General of Iata, said: “This has been a very sad week for everyone involved with aviation. Our heartfelt sorrow goes to all those who have lost their lives in these tragedies. And the industry’s thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones.

Every accident is one too many. The greatest respect that we can pay to the memory of those involved is to leave nothing unturned in our quest to understand the cause and to take steps to ensure that it is not repeated.

With three tragedies in such quick succession, many people will, understandably, be asking questions about aviation safety. Our number one priority is safety. And despite the events of the past seven days, flying is safe.

Every day, approximately 100,000 flights take to the sky and land without incident. In 2013 more than three billion people flew and there were 210 fatalities. Regrettably, we have surpassed that number already this year. But even so, getting on an aircraft is still among the safest activities that one can do.

Safeguarding our customers from harm as we transport them around the world is core to the mission of the aviation industry. It has been that way throughout our development over the last century. And we continue to do everything in our power to make flying ever safer.”



 

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